MLP: The Heretic
by Nages257
Summary: When a stallion from a new breed crashes into Equestria, the Mane Six, as well as other ponies are quick to offer him their friendship. However, when they find out that there is more to this stallion than what meets the eye, how will they react? And what sort of feelings will develop?
1. Daylight Savings, Part 1

_What's up, guys? I'm Nages257, and I will be writing a My Little Pony Fan-fiction series called "MLP: The Heretic". I'm still relatively new to writing fanfics, so I would appreciate it if you leave a review with your feedback as well as any suggestions. So without any further delay, here is the first chapter:_

"_**Daylight Savings**"_

_I can feel myself slowly falling_

_As the ground becomes closer, gravity doesn't seem to be stalling_

_Is this the end of me? Is death calling?_

_Will I not live on, or will I wake up crawling?_

* * *

It was a bright and clear afternoon on the school campus in Canterlot today. The sun was beaming down on the earth below, signifying the start of summer in Equestria. It was perhaps a little more active on the campus than its usual quiescent state, but otherwise, it seemed as if another ordinary day was about to take place...well, at least to the average pony, that is.

"Spike! SPI-IKE!" Twilight called out, as she barged through the door of her ivory tower. "Spike?" She called again, noticing the baby dragon in question sprawled out on the floor. Spike could only groan in response, as he rubbed his forehead with his claw. "There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of "_Predictions and Prophecies"._" Twilight ordered as she ran past the downed dragon, oblivious to the pain that he was in. He then got up and walked up the flight of the stairs that led to their library, holding a now-crushed present that his tail was poking through.

"What's that for?" Twilight asked as she looked over at Spike, noticing the present.

"Well, it _was _a gift for Moondancer's party, but - " Spike paused as a small teddy bear fell out of the box.

"Oh Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing." Twilight replied, a little irritated.

"But we're on a break!" Spike protested.

"No, no, no...no, no, no! SPIKE!" Twilight yelled in frustration, as she levitated several books towards her using magic, but couldn't find the book she was looking for.

"It's over here!" Spike exclaimed as he waved the book in question in his claw, while standing on a ladder.

Before Spike could descend down the ladder however, Twilight yanked the book out of his claws with her magic, forcefully pulling the dragon down to a face-plant on the floor below.

"Ah, Elements, Elements, E, E, E...Aha! _Elements of Harmony_...see _Mare in the Moon?_" Twilight read aloud, unaware that she had left several books on the floor and that Spike was now cleaning up after her mess.

"_Mare in the Moon? _But that's just an old ponies' tale." Spike said as he climbed the ladder again to re-shelve the fallen books.

"Mare, mare...aha! _The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!_" Twilight read aloud as she gasped at the last sentence. "Spike! Do you know what this means?" She exclaimed, now worried about the rumored eventuality that was going to take place.

"No...whoa!" Spike responded as he fell from the ladder, which had become unstable due to his position on it. This time, he landed on Twilight's back, breaking his fall.

"Take a note please, to the Princess." Twilight said as she began to recite her letter of concern to Princess Celestia.

"Okie dokie." Spike replied as she gave him a quill and a blank scroll.

"_My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!_" Twilight began.

"Hold on. Preci...preci..." Spike struggled to say, completely clueless with the definition of the word "precipice".

"Threshold." Twilight replied, hoping that Spike would understand the said word.

"Threh..." Spike started before looking up at Twilight, with a look of pure confusion on his face.

"Uh, brink?" Twilight said, hoping again that Spike would comprehend her use of words. However, Spike still couldn't catch onto her seemingly extensive vocabulary, as he raised on eyebrow. "Ugh, that something really bad is about to happen!" Twilight responded, apparently giving up on Spike's ability to interpret her advanced knowledge. "_For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle._" Twilight finished.

"Twi-light...Spar-kle. Got it!" Spike exclaimed as he finished writing her signature.

"Great! Send it." Twilight said, wanting to notify the Princess as quickly as possible.

"Now?" Spike asked, with a worried expression.

"Of course!" Twilight replied, wondering why he would ask such an obvious question.

"Uh, I dunno, Twilight, Princess Celestia's a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. And it's like, the day after tomorrow." Spike said as he tried to reason with the lavender unicorn.

"That's just it, Spike. The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration! It's imperative that the Princess is told right away!" Twilight said with a look a determination on her face, even getting in Spike's face at one point.

"Impera...impera..." Spike began, now struggling with the word "imperative".

"Important!" Twilight exclaimed, a little annoyed.

"Okay, okay!" Spike replied as Twilight's sudden outburst sent him flying back into a shelve of books. He proceeded to fill his lungs with air and exhaled a small green flame onto the scroll, morphing it into a light purple cloud that ascended out of a nearby open window. "There, it's on its way. But I wouldn't hold your breath..." Spike said, now showing a slight grin on his face.

"Oh, I'm not worried, Spike. The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she's been my mentor, she's never once doubted me." Twilight replied, sounding a tad overconfident.

Seconds later, Spike belched a green flame, which then transformed into a scroll with a new message inside of it.

"See? I knew she would want to take immediate action." Twilight said as Spike grabbed the scroll and began to read Celestia's message.

"_My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely._" Spike began.

"Mm-hm!" Twilight responded, still sounding a little too confident.

"..._but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!_" Spike continued, as this statement received a gasp from Twilight. "_My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!_" Spike finished, while Twilight could only give a depressed sigh.

* * *

After waiting for about five painfully-long minutes, Twilight reluctantly stepped into the chariot that would escort her to Ponyville, while Spike seemed to be excited to meet other ponies. The ride was relatively quiet throughout, as Twilight rested her head on the edge of the carriage, saddened by the fact that the Princess had seemingly dismissed her concerns about Nightmare Moon's return. As Ponyville began to appear over the horizon, Spike decided to speak up.

"Look on the bright side, Twilight. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?" Spike asked, hoping to cheer up the unicorn in question.

"Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return." Twilight replied, apparently content with her "misfortune".

"Then...when will you make friends, like the Princess said?" Spike asked, instantly realizing that Twilight wasn't on the same terms as what the Princess wanted her to agree to.

"She _said _to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends." Twilight said as she tried to persuade Spike that forming friendships with other ponies wasn't important to her.

The chariot had now arrived in the town of Ponyville as the royal guards who were pulling the cart came to a stop. Twilight and Spike emerged from the vehicle and thanked the guards as they took off again.

"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about." Spike said as a light pink pony with a fluffy hot pink mane was beginning to approach them. She also had light blue eyes and three small balloons for her cutie mark. "Come on, Twilight, just try!" Spike encouraged as she and the pink earth pony now stood face-to-face.

"Um...hello?" Twilight began, unsure of how their conversation would turn out.

Before Twilight could state her name however, the pony in question let out a loud, prolonged gasp and galloped off into the distance, without any clear explanation.

"Well, that was interesting all right." Twilight remarked sarcastically, while Spike could only give a disappointing sigh.

* * *

After a few minutes of exploring and wandering around in the marketplace, Spike and Twilight approached a field, which appeared to be an apple orchard.

"Summer Sun Celebration official overseer's checklist. Number one, banquet preparations: Sweet Apple Acres." Spike said as he stated their first location to visit.

Suddenly, a loud yell was heard in the near distance, startling both Twilight and Spike as they turned their heads. The source of the disturbance came from an orange mare with a blonde pony-tailed mane and tail, three red apples for her cutie mark, and three white freckles near her green eyes. She also wore a large brown stetson, signifying that she was most likely a descendant from a southern family. She galloped over to an apple tree and gave the trunk a good buck with her rear hooves, causing all of the apples to plummet into the wooden baskets aligned at the base of the tree. She then took her right forehoof and crossed it over her left, as if it were a sign of her pride.

"Let's get this over with..." Twilight sighed as she and Spike made their approach to the orange mare. "Good afternoon, my name is Twilight Sparkle..." Twilight began.

Before she could finish her introduction however, the mare grabbed her right forehoof and began to give her a violent handshake with her fore-hooves.

"Well, howdy-doo, Miss Twilight, a pleasure makin' your acquaintance. I'm Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do love makin' new friends!" Applejack said as she continued to shake Twilight's hoof.

"Friends? Actually I-" Twilight tried to say, but couldn't concentrate with her rapidly-shaking hoof.

"So, what can I do you for?" Applejack asked as she stopped shaking Twilight's hoof.

Due to the prolonged handshake (or "hoofshake", whatever you want to call it), Twilight's hoof kept cycling in its up and and down motion, in which a snickering Spike would have to put to rest. Twilight gave him a disapproving glare as he tried to hold in his laughter. Regaining her composure, Twilight continued.

"Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And you're in charge of the food?"

"We sure as sugar are! Would you care to sample some?" Applejack asked.

"As long as it doesn't take too long..." Twilight replied as Applejack ran over to ring a nearby triangle.

"Soup's on, everypony!" Applejack yelled as a stampede of ponies came storming towards Twilight and Spike.

The duo was seated by the ponies at an "exclusive" table surrounded by apple trees.

"Now, why don't I introduce y'all to the Apple family?" Applejack said as the large group of ponies stood before them.

"Thanks, but I really need to hurry-" Twilight attempted to say, but was cut off by Applejack as she began to recite the names of all of the ponies.

"This here's Apple Fritter. Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp...Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith." Applejack finished as the said ponies served a dish to the table when their names were called, causing a large stack of apple-filled desserts to form in the center. She also took a Granny Smith apple and stuffed it into Twilight's mouth. "Up'n'attem, Granny Smith, we got guests." She called to the elderly pony who was asleep on her rocking chair.

"Wha...? Soup's on? I'm up, here I come, I'm comin'..." Granny Smith said as she approached the group.

"Why, I'd say you're already a part of the family." Applejack said as Twilight spat out the apple that was stuffed into her mouth and began to laugh nervously.

"Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way." Twilight said as she and Spike prepared to make their departure.

"Aren't you gonna stay for brunch?" A small filly voice asked, which turned out to be Apple Bloom's. She began to look at Twilight with sad, soulful eyes. As a matter of fact, everyone (everypony, I know) had looks of disappointment on their faces.

"Sorry...but we have an awful lot to do." Twilight replied, hoping that the young filly would understand.

"Awww..." The Apple family groaned, saddened by the fact that the duo couldn't stay.

After a long pause, Twilight began to feel a little regretful for the way that she responded to the family's offer. Not seeing another way to improve the mood of the ponies, Twilight unwillingly accepted their invitation with a reluctant "Fine...". They spent about a half of an hour eating lunch before proceeding to the next objective on their checklist.

* * *

"Food's all taken care of. Next is weather." Spike said as he looked back at Twilight, who was walking a little more sluggishly.

"I ate too much pie..." Twilight groaned as her stomach was bulging slightly, while her head was hanging low.

"Hmmm...there's supposed to be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds." Spike said as he looked up to the sky.

"Well, she's not doing a very good job, is she?" Twilight remarked as she also looked up to see several clouds that have not been kicked away.

Without any prior warning, a multicolored blur crashed head-on into Twilight, sending both of them into a puddle of mud a few feet away from where she used to be standing. Laying on top of Twilight was a sky blue pegasus mare with a rainbow-colored mane and tail, magenta eyes, and a cutie mark consisting of a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt emerging from a cloud. Globs of mud fell soaked the mares' bodies. After a small moment of awkward silence, the pegasus decided to speak up.

"Uh...'scuse me?" The mare said as she began to laugh sheepishly while hovering a few feet above her. Twilight could only respond with groan, as her day continued to go any way except for what she had wanted it to. "Let me help you." She continued as she pushed a small gray cloud above the unicorn as she got back on her hooves to stand upright.

The pegasus began to jump on the cloud a few times, producing a quick shower. This shower appeared to have cleaned Twilight almost completely, however it left her soaked from head to tail.

"Oops. I-I guess I overdid it. Um..." The mare giggled as Twilight glared back at her in annoyance. "...uh...how about this?" The mare continued as she swooped down to fly in a rapid circular motion around Twilight, consuming the unicorn in a rainbow-colored tornado that sucked out all of the mud and excess water in the nearby area. "My very own patented...Rainblow-Dry!" She exclaimed as she flew down to the ground while the tornado faded away into the air. "No, no, don't thank me. You're quite welcome."

However, when she caught a glance of the byproduct of her "Rainblow-Dry", she burst into tears of laughter, even to the point of falling back onto the ground. Spike, also seeing the outcome, tagged along in the mare's laughter, falling on top of her. Twilight's mane and tail were now a frizzed-out mess, similar to that of a familiar pink pony that she had run into earlier.

"Let me guess. You're Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, hinting that she may have already figured that out.

"The one and only!" Rainbow Dash replied, sending Spike flying off of her. "Why? You heard of me?" She said as she hovered in the air again.

"I heard you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear." Twilight retorted, sighing as she continued. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and the Princess sent me to check on the weather." She said, trying to set aside her initial judgment of the seemingly narcissistic pegasus mare.

"Yeah, yeah, that'll be a snap. I'll do it in a jiffy." Rainbow Dash replied as she began to lounge on a preset cloud. "Just as soon as I'm done practicing." She finished, ironically showing no signs of wanting to perfect whatever she was "practicing".

"Practicing? For what?" Twilight asked.

"The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she pointed to a nearby poster of the said characters. "They're gonna perform at the Celebration. And I'm gonna show 'em my stuff." She finished as she began to fly in loops through the air to land on another cloud.

"_The _Wonderbolts?" Twilight asked, smiling shrewdly.

"Yep." Rainbow Dash replied.

"The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?"

"That's them."

"Pffft! Please. They'd never accept a pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day." Twilight teased while Rainbow Dash glared back at her, offended by the statement.

"Hey. I could clear the sky in ten seconds flat." Rainbow Dash responded.

"Prove it." Twilight said with a daring look.

Seeing this as a challenge, Rainbow Dash sprung into action and kicked cloud after cloud apart as she zipped across the sky. Twilight and Spike could only watch in awe as the sky above Ponyville was becoming rapidly clear. After Rainbow's last kick, the sky above showed no signs of a cloud's presence anywhere in sight; this whole process took almost exactly ten seconds, the target time.

"What'd I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I'd never leave Ponyville hanging." Rainbow Dash said as Twilight and Spike responded to her fulfillment of the task with a long jaw drop. "You should see the look on your face!" She remarked as Twilight still had her mouth wide open in shock while staring into space. "You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more." Rainbow Dash finished as she flew away from the scene.

"Wow...she's amazing!" Spike exclaimed as he began to playfully toy with Twilight's now messed up mane. Twilight gave a small groan of disapproval and walked ahead, with Spike following close behind after a moment of containing laughter.

"Wait! It's kinda pretty once you get used to it!" He exclaimed as the duo neared a circular pavilion.

* * *

When Twilight and Spike arrived at the pavilion, the first thing they noticed was the sheer amount of ribbons and banners in an assortment of different colors, with a bouquet of flowers at the end(s) of every other banner. Some of them displayed a picture symbolizing the sun and the moon, while others stretched across the perimeter of the pavilion.

"Decorations..." Spike said as he took another look at the checklist of objectives. "Beautiful..." He remarked.

"Yes. The décor is coming along nicely. This oughta be quick. I'll be back at the library in no time. Beautiful, indeed." Twilight responded, as they approached the center of the room.

"Not the décor...her!" Spike emphasized as he pointed to a white unicorn mare. She had a long purple mane and tail in loose, elegant curls, a cutie mark with three light blue lozenge-shaped jewels, and a pale blue eyeshadow to match with her vivid blue eyes.

"No...no...no...oh!...goodness, no...hmmm..." She spoke to herself as she levitated a few ribbon samples for a closer look.

"How are my spines? Are they straight?" Spike asked to Twilight as he began to quickly groom himself, due to being absolutely lovestruck by this new unicorn.

Twilight just gave him a funny look before making her introduction.

"Good afternoon."

"Just a moment, please. I'm in the zone, as 'twere. Ah, yes!" The unicorn replied as she tightened a glittering red bow on a post. "Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you _are _a talent. Now, um, how can I help you-" Rarity said as she got a full glance at Twilight, but cried in horror when she saw Twilight's poofed-up mess of a mane and tail. "Oh, my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your _coiffure_?" She asked.

"Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story. I'm just here to check on the decorations, and then I'll be out of your hair." Twilight explained.

"Out of _my_ hair? What about _your_ hair?" Rarity responded as she gently pushed Twilight from behind into a dressing area.

"Wait! Where are we going? Help!" Twilight exclaimed as Spike followed the pair, using his tail as a propeller due to keeping his focus on his new love interest.

"No...no...uh-uh." Rarity said as she looked at Twilight in a mirror, who was now dressed as a four-legged statue signifying the Statue of Liberty. "Too green." Rarity then had Twilight dress up as a proper Southern lady, but was still not pleased with the outcome. "Too yellow." Rarity next had Twilight try on a dress that impersonated the style of a Spanish dancer, but still wasn't satisfied. "Too poofy." Rarity then proceeded to have Twilight dress up as a 1950s teenager, a French noblewoman, and an aerobics instructor, all while Twilight was beginning to grow more and more tired and a bit annoyed.

Then, at last, Rarity found an outfit that she felt would fit Twilight's style. With her mane and tail back into their original, straight forms, Twilight now wore a white saddle bedecked with small jewels and a necklace consisting of a large emerald. Two white straps also floated loosely behind the saddle.

"Now go _on_, my dear. You were telling me where you're from." Rarity said as she tugged on the straps with her teeth to tighten the saddle onto Twilight.

"I've...been...sent...from...Canterlot...to..." Twilight struggled to say as she was strangled by the pressure of the tightening saddle.

"Huh?" Rarity said as she unexpectedly stopped tugging on the straps, causing the two mares to be sent flying off into opposite directions. "_Canterlot?!_ Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it." She continued as she leaned close to Twilight, who slowly backed away in response. "We're gonna be the best of friends, you and I...Emerald?! What _was _I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!" Rarity finished as she ran off to retrieve the said jewels.

"Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!" Twilight exclaimed as she ran past a seemingly paralyzed Spike, who was still smitten by the sight of Rarity. She also took off the fancy saddle and left it where Rarity used to be. When she saw that he wasn't going anywhere, she lifted him up onto her back and escaped from the pavilion again before Rarity could spot them again.

* * *

"Wasn't she wonderful?" Spike sighed, with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Focus, Casanova. What's next on the list?" Twilight asked.

"Oh...uh...music. It's the last one." Spike replied as he cleared his throat and looked at the final objective n the list.

The duo approached the outskirts of Ponyville and began to hear a fanfare being whistled in the distance. They hid in the bushes nearby and poked their heads out to watch the source of the whistling; a group of birds perched in a tree with a light yellow pegasus mare hovering in front of them as their composer. She had a long, pink mane and tail that curled upward at the ends, teal eyes, and a cutie mark with three pink butterflies. Suddenly, one of the blue jays started to sing noticeably out of sync with the other birds, drawing the mare's worried attention.

"Oh, my. Um, stop, please, everyone." She said in a soft, timid voice, as she flew up to the branch where the bad singer was standing. "Um, excuse me, sir. I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny tiny bit off." She continued as the blue jay gave her an understanding nod. "Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one, two, three." She said as the birds resumed to their whistling.

"Hello!" Twilight called out as she came out of hiding, startling the pegasus and scaring off the birds in the process. "Oh, my. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten your birds. I'm just here to check up on the music, and it's sounding beautiful." Twilight explained as the pegasus mare touched down to the ground. The mare stood in silence, making sure to avoid looking at Twilight for more than two seconds at time and began to fidget her right hoof, possibly due to shyness. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?" Twilight asked as she introduced herself, trying to put a smile on her face to make the "conversation

"Um...I'm Fluttershy..." The mare replied in a soft voice, inaudible to Twilight's hearing.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked, still trying to maintain a smile.

"Um...my name is Fluttershy..." Fluttershy repeated in a softer tone, while slightly backing away.

"Didn't quite catch that." Twilight responded, leaning closer.

Fluttershy couldn't reply with a louder voice and let out a tiny squeal as she looked at Twilight sidelong, trying to disappear behind her long mane. The frightened birds slowly began to return to the tree, appearing to have gathered up enough courage to continue singing around Twilight.

"Well, um, it looks like your birds are back. So I guess everything's in order. Keep up the good work." Twilight said as she prepared to leave, while Fluttershy could only manage another tiny squeal. "Oo-kay..." Twilight finished, backing away to see Spike coming out of the bushes. "Well, that was easy." Twilight said to him, as Fluttershy started to look at the two conversing amongst each other. Seeing the baby dragon allowed her to come to life with a gasp and a sudden flutter of her wings.

"A baby dragon!" She exclaimed as she ran over to Spike, knocking Twilight out of the way and sending her airborne for a few feet. Her outburst also scared away her birds for a second time. "Oh, I've never seen a baby dragon before! He's so cute!" Fluttershy cooed with much more excitement than she had about ten seconds ago.

"Well, well, _well_!" Spike replied as he looked back at Twilight sprawled out on the ground. He then folded his arms with a proud expression written all over his face.

"Oh, my. He talks. I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful, I...I just don't even know what to say!" She continued, while hovering in the air.

"Well, in that case, we better be going." Twilight interrupted as she grabbed Spike with her magic and placed him on her back, while starting to walk away.

"Wait! Wait! What's his name?" Fluttershy asked as she began to her, while Twilight could only look back at her with an irritated expression. However, Fluttershy didn't take notice of this.

"I'm Spike." Spike replied.

"Hi, Spike. I'm Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Absolutely everything." Fluttershy answered, while Twilight made a disgusted sigh, annoyed by her sudden boldness.

"Well, I started out as a cute little purple and green egg..." Spike started as he explained his life story to Fluttershy.

The trio spent the whole afternoon walking through the large marketplace of Ponyville, with Twilight set on getting to her library so that she could begin her research on Nightmare Moon and get away from Fluttershy. Spike continued his life story as a dragon, while Fluttershy listened actively to every word.

"And that's the story of my whole entire life...well, up until today. Do you want to hear about today?" Spike asked.

"Oh, yes, please!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

The trio arrived at Twilight's library as the sun began to set. The library was a large tree house with several windows jutting out from the circumference of the trunk for some of the rooms. There was also a built-in balcony on the second floor, most likely meant for stargazing purposes. The lantern in front of what looked to be a kitchen window had been turned on, even though it wasn't completely dark at the moment. Seeing the sky above as an opportunity to depart from Fluttershy, Twilight swiftly turned to face the pegasus, causing Spike to nearly lose his balance.

"I am so sorry. How did we get here so fast? This is where I'm staying while in Ponyville, and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep." Twilight said while feigning a pleading face.

"No I don't!" Spike protested.

As if it were an abrupt reflex that had sparked in her body, Twilight bucked Spike off of her with now a fake grin on her face, trying to get Fluttershy to understand her "problem". Spike landed with a thud and opened his eyes, which was still crooked from the impact.

"Aw, wookit that. He's so sweepy, he can't even keep his wittle bawance." Twilight said as she leaned towards him, using a baby voice. Spike glared at her stupidly grin in annoyance. Before he could complain any further, he was swept up by Fluttershy.

"Poor thing. You simply must get him to bed." Fluttershy responded as she flew inside the library with Spike in her arms, as if it were her instinct.

"Yes, yes. We'll get right on that. Well, good night!" Twilight exclaimed as she ejected Fluttershy from the library and slammed the door in her face, hoping that she would be on her way home.

* * *

"Rude much?" Spike asked, a little surprised and angered by Twilight's actions.

"Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we're running out of time. I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time. Now where's the light?" Twilight explained.

The said light came on suddenly, revealing a crowd of seemingly unfamiliar ponies in the center of a circular room, with noisemakers in some of their mouths. Above the crowd were volumes of books aligned on the bookshelves on the walls, as well as streamers that fell from the upper reaches of the library. The night also appeared to have fallen outside, which could mean one thing: someone (or "somepony") had decided to throw Twilight and Spike a nighttime welcoming party...but who?

"SURPRISE!" The crowd shouted, startling both Twilight and Spike as confetti fell from the ceiling. Twilight could only respond with a moan, as not only was she annoyed by how she could never be alone when she wanted to be, but she was also confused as to why some random pony would throw a party specifically for her.

The pink pony that Twilight had ran into earlier in the day didn't take long to spot her again, as she made her approach.

"Surprise! Hi. I'm Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she started to hop all around Twilight, as if she had just consumed caffeinated coffee, a full liter of soda, and a large bunch of sweets all at once.

"Very surprised. Libraries are supposed to be quiet." Twilight answered with a hint of aggravation in her voice, somehow causing Pinkie Pie to giggle.

"That's silly. What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh! Booooring!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a big grin on her face, while Twilight just shook her head and rolled her eyes, trying to walk away from the hyperactive mare. "You see I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all, "Hello", and I was all * gasp * remember? You see, I never saw you before, and if I never saw you before, that means you're new. 'Cause I know everypony, and I mean _everypony_, in Ponyville." Pinkie continued, as the two made their way to a table with refreshments. Twilight, trying to block out Pinkie's constant talking in her ear, grabbed a red bottle in her teeth and poured its contents into a waiting glass. "And if you're new, it meant you hadn't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends, then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad. And I had an idea, and that's why I went * gasp *." Pinkie said as she continued to explain to Twilight about her previous actions, who still didn't appear to be really listening. Twilight proceeded to place a straw into her "drink", however, what she didn't realize was that this so-called "drink" was actually hot sauce. As she started to take a sip of the hot sauce, Pinkie still kept talking as if she were still attentively listening. "I should throw a great big, ginormous, super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville! See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!" Pinkie exclaimed as Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash quickly gathered around her to "prove her point".

Twilight's eyes greatly widened when the hot sauce took its hot, spicy effect on her tongue. She turned to face the group, who had now noticed that her bulging cheeks were as red as beets, and that her eyes were streaming with tears.

"Are you all right, sugar cube?" Applejack asked, now concerned.

Twilight then jumped up, with steam whistling from her ears, and her mane and tail temporarily turning into flames. She zipped off at top speed up a staircase to alleviate her burning sensation, while the group of mares (except Pinkie) watched in confusion.

"Aww, she's so happy she's crying!" Pinkie said, oblivious as to what was wrong with Twilight, and further confusing the others.

"Hot sauce." Spike said as he picked up the same red bottle that Twilight had used earlier.

Pinkie Pie reached over Spike to tip the bottle over one of the cupcakes on the table, dumping a glob of hot sauce all over it. She then the sweet and spicy mess and shoved it into her mouth, surprisingly remaining unaffected by the burning sensation that would usually bring a pony to tears. If her previous words had the others confused, this action may have just threw them all for a loop.

"What? It's good!" Pinkie responded, as the group just shook their heads while smiling.

* * *

Meanwhile, Twilight was laying down on a bed upstairs, hiding her face underneath her pillow to block out the loud, pounding music playing downstairs, hoping that she would eventually fall asleep. Her room consisted of bookshelves aligned one wall, with the rest of the space being used for the bed, a house plant, a small floor mat, and a table window with a design of the flank of a unicorn, along with a telescope that was likely meant for stargazing. Also on the wall were two overlapping horseshoes and a cuckoo clock. The main reading room was just below the bedroom, and also had an assortment of books, a desk, and a staircase leading down to the first floor.

After a moment, Twilight sat up to look at the clock and saw that it was just past four o'clock in the morning. She released a small groan at the sight of this, and wondered what the other ponies could possibly be doing in the wee hours of the night..._especially_ in her residence...well, "temporary residence".

"Hey, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed as he opened the door to the main reading room and saw the purple unicorn on her bed. His head was covered by a lampshade and small streamers. "Pinkie Pie's starting "Pin the Tail on the Pony"! Wanna play?" He asked, excitedly.

"No! All the ponies in this town are CRAZY! Do you know what time it is?" Twilight replied, a bit more annoyed than her usual self.

"It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they'll miss the Princess raise the sun." Spike explained as he prepared to leave the room. "You really should lighten up, Twilight. It's a party!". With that statement being said, Spike left Twilight alone to rejoin the party.

Twilight mimicked his tone of voice for a short moment, and began to rant about her misfortunes to herself.

"Here I thought I'd have time to learn more about the Elements of Harmony. But, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!" She exclaimed in frustration as she sat up again to look out of the window. In the night sky is the moon, along with its surfaces forming a small, but noticeable silhouette on Nightmare's head. Surrounding the moon were four large, twinkling stars that slowly drifted towards it, although their movements were not visible by the naked eye. "Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year...the stars will aid in her escape...and she will bring about everlasting night." Twilight spoke softly while levitating an open book; the same one she looked at earlier in the ivory tower. Lowering the book, Twilight spoke again as she looked up at the moon: "I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is just an old pony tale.".

"Come on, Twilight! It's time to watch the sunrise!" Spike exclaimed as he opened the door again, while still wearing the lampshade on his head.

Seeing how he and the ponies that she met earlier today would be likely to interrupt her if and while she would be studying, Twilight reluctantly exited her bedroom and the library to join the others in watching the sunrise.

"_I hope you're right, Princess Celestia. I still don't know what the Elements of Harmony do, or even how they work for that matter. I can't imagine what I would do if Nightmare Moon were to return...or what everypony in Ponyville would do, if anything._" Twilight thought while walking to the town square pavilion.

* * *

When the crowd of ponies, Spike, and Twilight made their way into the pavilion, they waited for the mayor of Ponyville to present Princess Celestia. Some of the pegasi in the room used their wings to an advantage, and flew up to the ceiling to get a bird's eye view of the balcony. Other ponies including unicorns and earth ponies just stood around and conversed amongst themselves. Even though the Princess had seemed confident in her letter that nothing detrimental was going to take place, the bad feeling still lingered in Twilight's mind. Pinkie Pie caught a sight of her again, and approached her to have another conversation.

"Isn't this exciting? Are you excited? "Cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went * gasp *. But I mean, really, who can top that?" Pinkie asked, while Twilight just looked at her with an uninterested expression.

The birds that had been rehearsing with Fluttershy earlier in the day (well, technically yesterday now, for all of you smart people out there) began to recite their song for Princess Celestia's arrival, with Fluttershy hovering in the air to be their composer. A spotlight was then focused onto the center of the stage below the balcony, which presented the mayor of Ponyville. She had a light brownish-tan coat with a silvery-white mane and tail, small glasses that protected her bright blue eyes, and a cutie mark of a scroll with a blue ribbon wrapped around it. She also wore her uniform; a white fabric that wrapped around her neck, along with a teal, puffy material on the collar of the uniform.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" The mayor exclaimed as she began her short speech. "As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" The mayor continued as the crowd cheered for a moment, with the exception of Twilight and Spike, and then resumed their silence so that the mayor could continue. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!" She said as she pointed to a banner with a picture of a white alicorn pony with a yellow, sunny background, signifying Princess Celestia's ability to raise and/or lower the sun. "And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land..." The mayor paused as some ponies in the crowd shifted their attention from her to the center of the balcony, which showed a pair of closed, red curtains.

During this short pause, Twilight looked through a window above her to the moon. The four twinkling stars that she had seen while in the library had drifted all the way to the center of the moon. The moon then flashed a white light from its core, and when it was visible again, the silhouette of Nightmare's head that surfaced the moon had vanished. Twilight let out a small gasp at sight of this, and instantly grew an uneasy expression as she turned her head back to the balcony, as if she were awaiting Nightmare Moon's arrival any minute now.

"_Oh no...Princess Celestia...you were wrong..._" Twilight thought as the mayor spoke again.

"...the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day...the good, the wise...the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..." The mayor paused again as the crowd grew more and more excited, as if they were about to go into an absolute frenzy.

"Ready?" Fluttershy said to her birds as they prepared to sing the most critical part of their song.

"...Princess Celestia!" The mayor exclaimed finally as Rarity tugged on the curtains to open them.

The birds began to whistle another fanfare as the curtains slowly opened. The best part of the Summer Sun Celebration was about to get under way. The Princess was about to be revealed to the town of Ponyville...the curtains fully opened...but there was no one there...

"Huh?" Rarity exclaimed, dumbstruck at the sight of this...well, nothingness.

"This. Can't be good." Twilight said with abstract fear in her voice.

The crowd began to murmur, generally confused at the fact that the Princess was not in their expected position on the balcony, or anywhere to be seen for that matter.

"Remain calm, everypony. There must be a reasonable explanation." The mayor advised, now with a worried expression on her face.

"Ooh! Ooh! I love guessing games! Is she hiding?" Pinkie exclaimed, oblivious to everyone's concern.

"She's gone!" Rarity exclaimed as she had went behind the curtains for a moment to look for the missing princess, but could not locate her.

The crowd let out a gargantuan gasp that filled the entire room as they started to panic.

"Ooh, she's _good_." Pinkie said to Twilight, still unaware of the situation that was taking place.

However, reality unexpectedly got to the pink mare, as her happy cheer instantly disappeared with a gasp of horror when she looked up again at the balcony. Other ponies noticed Pinkie Pie gasp and looked up at the balcony again, doing the very same thing as they caught a glance of a horrific sight. Twinkling clouds of deep bluish-violet vapor began to engulf the platform and the balcony railing.

"Oh, no." Twilight said, softly.

The thick, twinkling clouds were cast aside after a short moment of building up its quantity, slowly revealing the possible culprit for Princess Celestia's absence; the blue-armored, bluish-black alicorn: Nightmare Moon. She had a purplish-indigo mane and tail that were also vapor-like, light bluish-green eyes with scornful catlike pupils under the helmet that she wore, and stood at a seemingly towering size that was accompanied by a spread of her wings. Her chest and cutie mark armor plates also had a white moon crescent design on it, representing her one thousand year imprisonment on the moon.

"Nightmare Moon!" Twilight exclaimed as Spike moaned in shock and literally fainted at the sight of the supposedly evil mare.

"Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious sun-loving faces." Nightmare Moon spoke as the crowd of ponies could only tremble with absolute trepidation. They could not believe that what was said to be an old pony tale was actually happening in front of them, here and now.

"What did you do with our Princess?!" Rainbow exclaimed as she started into a flying charge towards Nightmare Moon, however, Applejack grabbed her tail with her teeth to stop her from doing so, seeing how much more intimidating and powerful the alicorn appeared to be.

"Whoa there, Nelly!" Applejack said as she slowly reeled in Rainbow Dash back onto the ground, while Nightmare Moon began to chuckle.

"Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" Nightmare asked.

"Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games! Um...Hokey Smokes! How about...Queen Meanie? No...Black Snooty! Black Snooty!" Pinkie exclaimed before Applejack stuffed a cupcake into the pink mare's mouth, shutting her up temporarily while keeping an embarrassed grin on her face. This short fiasco made Nightmare Moon raise an eyebrow at the two ponies for a second before continuing, as she leaned over to Fluttershy.

"Does my crown no longer count, now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" She asked, almost rhetorically, as her booming presence unquestionably scared away the birds as well as frightened the meek pegasus mare into remaining completely frozen with suspended in the air.

Nightmare Moon then leaned over to Rarity, and also began to give her a small lecture.

"Did you not recall the legend?" She said as she gently slapped her chin up with her vapory hair. "Did you not see the signs?" She asked, this time awaiting an answer.

"I did." Twilight spoke up, causing Nightmare Moon to shift her attention onto her. "And I know who you are! You're the Mare in the Moon—Nightmare Moon!" Twilight exclaimed, earning perhaps a small ounce of respect from the said alicorn.

"Well, well, well. Somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here." Nightmare said, making everyone turn their focus onto Twilight while she fumbled for an answer to give.

"You're here to...to..." Twilight started, losing her nerve and giving herself a hard gulp.

"Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" Nightmare exclaimed as she began to laugh maniacally, while bluish-purple vapor and occasional lightning bolts swirled above her, almost like a vortex.

The crowd of ponies, including Twilight, grew worried and panicked expressions on the faces as Nightmare Moon continued to laugh menacingly.

"Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!" The mayor exclaimed as three royal pegasus guards started into a flying charge towards Nightmare Moon. They each had a white coat, gold saddles, gold shoes, and a Roman-style helmet for armor.

"Stand back, you foals!" Nightmare exclaimed as her eyes burned white, causing more lightning to form around her, and sending the trio of guards harshly back down to earth. She then wrapped her long mane and tail around her body and vanished into a bluish-purple mist. This mist made a beeline for the front door, snaking through parts of the crowd as well as the guards that she had knocked out of commission. Rainbow Dash, who had still been trapped in a standstill in the air by Applejack, finally broke loose of her grip and charged after Nightmare Moon.

"Come back here!" She yelled as she chased after the misty form of Nightmare Moon. However, she was too late as not only was Nightmare Moon flying almost twice as fast as her, but she also had a head start of about a good three to four miles. "Nighttime...forever?" Rainbow said to herself, beginning to worry about that eventuality. She then heard hoofbeats on the ground and noticed that Twilight had come running out of the pavilion with Spike on her back. "Where's _she _going?" Rainbow spoke again as she started to follow Twilight back to her library. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy saw this unfold from the front door of the pavilion, and also proceeded to pursue them, hoping to get some answers.

* * *

When Twilight arrived at the library, she immediately turned the lights on and placed the seemingly unconscious Spike into an open basket so that he could rest peacefully.

"We gotta stop Nightmare!" Spike exclaimed while half-asleep and half-dazed.

"You've been up all night, Spike. You are a _baby_ dragon, after all." Twilight spoke softly as she placed a small blanket over Spike and tucked him in. The baby dragon almost instantly fell asleep shortly after she left the room.

When Twilight turned out the lights in her bedroom, she quietly ran back down the stairs and began to rummage through her books, hoping to find the same book that she used to learn about the Elements of Harmony. Surprisingly, the ruckus that she was making in the process did not wake up Spike, who was still knocked out cold.

"Elements, Elements, Elements..." Twilight said as she had an even harder time locating the book than she did the first time, with Spike not being there to help her look. "How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?!" She exclaimed as she grew frustrated with her misfortune.

"And just what _are_ the Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow asked as she got in Twilight's face, with a furious look written all over her face. Twilight slowly backed up as she continued. "And how did _you _know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a _spy_?" Rainbow accused before being yanked by her tail again by Applejack.

"Simmer down, Sally. She ain't no spy..." Applejack said, earning a somewhat guilty look from Rainbow Dash. "...but she sure knows what's goin' on—don't you, Twilight?" She asked, as the five ponies began to close in on her.

Twilight paused to look at their concerned faces for a moment before responding to Applejack's question.

"I read all about the predictions of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her." Twilight confessed as she looked out of a window to the now bare moon. "But I don't know what they are, where to find them. I don't even know what they do!" She explained.

"_The Elements of Harmony._" Pinkie read aloud, making Twilight shift her focus onto her. "_A Reference Guide._" She finished.

"How did you find that?!" Twilight exclaimed as she trucked Pinkie out of the way to retrieve the book.

"It was under "E"!" Pinkie said in a singsong voice.

"Oh." Twilight replied, a little angered by the fact that an apparently air-headed pony was able to locate a sophisticated book like this one much easier than she herself did. She levitated the book over the middle of the room and began to read aloud, while the others followed along silently. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty." She read, while just outside of a window, a familiar mist began to form. Nightmare Moon had been in her vapor form listening in on their conversation, quietly thinking of a plan to sabotage their upcoming journey. "The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters." Twilight continued, as Nightmare Moon, now having heard this, zipped away from the window. "It is located in what is now..." Twilight said as the group began to shudder at the next three words on the page. "The Everfree Forest!" They all exclaimed fearfully. After a long moment of silent apprehension, Pinkie Pie spoke up, once again returning to her cheerful state of mind.

"Whee! Let's go!" She said as she trotted towards the front door.

"Not so fast!" Twilight said, causing Pinkie to stop where she now stood. "Look. I appreciate the offer. But I'd really rather do this on my own." Twilight explained, hoping that her "friends" would understand her intentions.

"No can do, sugar cube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." Applejack said as Twilight flinched a bit when hearing the word "friend", but Applejack nor the others caught sight of this.

"Mmm-hmm!" Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash said as they trotted towards the front door and began to walk out of the library.

"Especially if there's candy apples in there!" Pinkie fantasized as Twilight gave her a funny look. "What? Those things are _good_!" Pinkie said as she exited the library, while Twilight could only respond with a resigning sigh as she followed the group of ponies.

* * *

When the six ponies arrived at the entrance of the Everfree Forest, they stopped for a moment to gather up whatever courage they had leftover from Nightmare Moon's arrival, and for good reason, too. The large, overgrown forest seemed bigger and darker than usual; who knows what kind of foreboding journey awaited them inside the wilderness? After taking a good look at what they were going to face up ahead, Rainbow Dash grew impatient.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She exclaimed as she started into blindly flying through the trees, however, Applejack grabbed her by the tail with her teeth for a third time. "What now?" Rainbow groaned, a little annoyed that Applejack kept stopping her from progressing any further.

"Somethin' doesn't feel right..." Applejack responded, now with a worried expression on her face.

"Uh, yeah! The night will last forever if we don't hurry up and find the Elements of Harmony." Rainbow replied, wondering why Applejack would say something so obvious.

"Not that, I mean-" Applejack tried to say, however, the ground suddenly began to shake, nearly throwing the ponies off balance.

"What in the name in Celestia is that?!" Rainbow yelled as she looked behind her to see where the source of the rumbling was, while the trembling ground gradually became more and more violent.

The other ponies also turned around and looked up to the sky, and noticed that a small, but rapidly growing green ball of light had emerged in the atmosphere to the right of the moon.

"Ooh! Is that a meteor?" Pinkie managed to say through all of the shaking.

"It can't be. Meteors only appear in Equestria every one hundred years!" Twilight responded.

The green ball of light was now visually large than the moon with the naked eye, and grew increasingly closer to the group's location. It would only be a matter of mere seconds before the green light would either hit them or continue to fall above their heads.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that thing's headed right for us!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Duck!" Rainbow yelled as everyone began to drop down to the ground to duck their heads.

"Duck? Where?!" Pinkie exclaimed, with her air-headed cheerfulness making her unaware of what was going on.

"No, Pinkie! Duck your head!" Rainbow yelled again, forcing Pinkie down to the ground with her forehoof.

The green light, even though it fell nowhere near them as it zipped through the sky above the heads, was followed by a strong gust of wind, almost blasting Pinkie Pie head-on into a tree. As the wind slowly died down, the ground's shaking also began to slowly lighten up as the light traveled further away.

"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked, as the other ponies responded with a general "yes".

"We better get going." Twilight said as she stood up from the ground. "Now we have more than one problem to deal with." She pointed out as she started to walk into the forest.

The other ponies stood up and followed her in, thus starting their journey to stop Nightmare Moon.

* * *

_And with that being said, this will be the end of the first chapter. Please write a review with your feedback. I know that personally, this isn't my "best" work, and I want to make this story better in the near future. For those of you that liked this story so far, stay tuned for the second chapter, "Daylight Savings, Part 2", coming soon._

_- Nages257_


	2. Daylight Savings, Part 2

_What's up, guys? I'm Nages257, and I'm back with the second chapter of "MLP: The Heretic". In Chapter 1, Twilight is sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, as well as to make some friends. However, when Twilight's prediction of Nightmare Moon's return becomes a reality, will she and her new "friends" be able to locate the Elements of Harmony and stop her from bringing about eternal night? And what was the green light that fell into Equestria? So without any more further delay, here is Chapter 2:_

"_**Daylight Savings**_"

_Should I really be meddling_

_In this world's affair?_

_I don't want to get too involved_

_But something's wrong; I can feel it in the air..._

* * *

"So...none of you have been in here before?" Twilight asked as she led the group, despite the fact that she has never been in the Everfree Forest either.

"Heavens, no!" Rarity replied, while shuddering at the thought of it. "Just look at it. It's dreadful!" She exclaimed.

"And it ain't natural." Applejack added.

Meanwhile, a short distance ahead of the group near a cliff edge, Nightmare Moon slipped into the cracks of the rocks while in her vapor form, preparing to cause a seismic disruption for the ponies. However, the ponies did not catch a sight of this occurrence, and kept walking until they approached the now booby-trapped area.

"Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria." Applejack continued.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked.

"Nopony knows..." Rainbow said ominously as she emerged from the shadows of the forest. "You know why?" She asked in the same tone, trying to scare Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, who all had frightened expressions on their faces.

"Rainbow, quit it!" Applejack said, but Rainbow ignored this and proceeded to walk slowly and dramatically towards the three scared ponies.

" 'Cause everypony who's ever come in has never...come..._out_!" Rainbow exclaimed, scaring them even more.

Suddenly, as if Rainbow's words had triggered the "trap", the cliff edge gave out and began to fall, trapping Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight on it. Fluttershy, being a pegasus, used her wings to hover to safety.

"Fluttershy, quick!" Rainbow exclaimed as she dove into action.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" Fluttershy said as she followed her closely behind.

As the other ponies kept sliding down the rock slide, Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie Pie while hovering in the air, while Fluttershy grabbed Rarity's tail with her teeth to prevent her from sliding any further. Applejack managed to stop herself by biting down on an exposed root on one of the rocks, however Twilight slid all the way down to a slanted ledge on the cliff, with her hind legs dangling over the precipice. Seeing Twilight about to lose her grip, Applejack slid down the rocks to save her.

"Hold on! I'm-a-comin'!" She assured as she reached the edge where Twilight hung on for dear life, and grabbed her fore-hooves, while somehow managing to keep enough traction in her hind hooves.

"Applejack! What do I do?" Twilight asked, starting to panic.

Applejack paused for a long, tense moment as she closed one eye in fatigue, due to the strain on her muscles beginning to take its toll on her grip. She looked up with her other eye and noticed that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were hovering above them, as if they were waiting for a last-minute rescue. As she opened her other eye back up again to look at Twilight, an idea formed in her mind, and she spoke.

"Let go." She began.

"Are you crazy?!" Twilight responded, wondering why she would even think of such a thing at a time like this.

"No, I ain't. I promise you'll be safe." Applejack continued.

"That's not true!" Twilight exclaimed, still not convinced to loosen her grip.

"Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe." Applejack reassured.

Twilight looked at Applejack with pleading eyes, as she struggled to find it in her heart to trust the orange mare. Her panicked brain objected Applejack's solution with a burning, but something inside of her made her want to let go of the pony that held her over the edge of oblivion, and trusting her to the point where she believes that she will not be harmed; perhaps it was just instincts. After a short moment that seemed like an eternity, Twilight's instincts eventually took over and she released her deathly grip on Applejack's hooves. She screamed as she rapidly plunged towards the ground below, with her eyes closed tightly. However, her fall was stopped in midair when she felt two pairs of hooves catch her. She opened her eyes and saw that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had broken her fall, and let out a big sigh of relief. A sudden weight shift almost allowed Twilight to slip out of the pegasus' grasp, causing her to yell again.

"Sorry, girls. I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two." Fluttershy apologized as she and Rainbow Dash compensated for their slip-up by regaining their grip on the lavender unicorn, and steadily lowering her to the ground below.

* * *

Twilight watched Applejack traverse down the cliff side as she jumped down from one protruding ledge to another, and started to have second thoughts about the benefits of actually having friends to be there for her. Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon flew away from the scene, remaining completely unnoticed by the group, and poured herself into a large, hulking creature standing nearby. This caused the creature to roar in agony and rage, but this was also unheard of by the group of ponies, who were now walking in the creature's direction.

"And once Pinkie and Rarity were safe...whoosh! Me and Fluttershy looped the loop around, and wham! Caught you right in the nick of time." Rainbow explained excitedly to Twilight, who looked a little irritated considering how she was clearly present at the scene.

"Yes, Rainbow, I was there. And I'm very grateful." Twilight replied with a small smile, but still trying to focus on the task at hand...er...hoof.

Suddenly, a loud explosion noise was heard in the distance, as if a bomb had been set off in that area.

"What was _that_?" Rainbow asked.

"It must have been that green light that we saw earlier at the entrance of the forest." Twilight replied. "It must have landed, which means we gotta-" Twilight tried to say, however the creature jumped in front of the gang, with an angry look on its face. It had a lion-like head, a scorpion-like tail, and a pair of bat-like ears and wings. "* gasp* A manticore!" She exclaimed fearfully as the said creature let out an intimidating roar. "We've gotta get past him!" She said she as the manticore leaped at Rarity to swipe her with its paw, however the white unicorn dodged the attack and countered with a buck to the face, knocking it back temporarily.

"Take that, you ruffian!" Rarity exclaimed with a confident grin.

However, the manticore quickly shook off Rarity's kick to the face, and unleashed a deafening roar right in the unicorn's face, causing her mane to become a frizzed-out mess due to the moisture in its breath.

"My hair!" Rarity responded as she paused to look at her now ruined mane, while the manticore let out a low growl, sending Rarity into a full retreat.

"Wait." Fluttershy said softly, wanting to get her attention as the white unicorn ran past her. However, neither Rarity nor the chasing manticore took any notice of this.

Applejack then jumped on top of the manticore's head, causing it to stop chasing Rarity. However, the creature began to try to buck her off, but to no avail, at least for the moment.

"Yee-haa! Get along, little doggie!" She yelled as she hung onto the fur on the manticore's head.

"Wait!" Fluttershy said again, a little louder than the first time, but still not loud enough to be audible, as the manticore began to buck around uncontrollably. After one last good heave, the creature managed to shake Applejack off as the orange earth pony was sent flying through the air.

"Whooooaaa!" She yelled as she hit the ground with a thud. "All yours, partner." She said to Rainbow, surprisingly not hurt severely by her tumble.

"I'm on it!" Rainbow replied as she zoomed past Fluttershy.

"Wait!" Fluttershy said for the third time, but still not being acknowledged.

Within a matter of seconds, Rainbow Dash enveloped the manticore in a rainbow-colored twister, similar to the Rainblow-Dry that she used to dry Twilight when she ran into her in the marketplace. However, the manticore lashed out its scorpion tail in front of her, knocking her out of the tornado's cycling motion and thus, stopping the tornado. The impact sent Rainbow Dash flying towards the trees as she yelled.

"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed as the said pegasus landed with a thud. This time, Twilight had enough of seeing her "friends" getting hurt by the manticore and decided to join them in a five-way charge, excluding Fluttershy.

The manticore adopted a rhino-like stance, as it looked like it was about to charge at the ponies. It took its front right paw and dragged it across the ground. The ponies copied this movement, and started into a charge against the manticore. The gap between the combatants was quickly decreasing, as they were about to clash, but then Fluttershy threw herself into their path.

"WAAAIIIT!" She yelled, as she had been trying to get their attention ever since the skirmish began.

As both sides stood down for the moment, Fluttershy walked towards the manticore, with the intent to soothe its tension. Seeing her approach as a threat, the manticore raised its right paw, seconds away from disemboweling her on the spot. The other five ponies cringed at this, fearing the worst for the light yellow pegasus. However, something completely different took place instead.

"Shhh, it's okay." Fluttershy reassured as she began to nuzzle with the manticore's other paw, allowing the others to reluctantly peek at this occurrence. The manticore, now feeling a little more calm, unclenched its left paw to reveal a large blue thorn stuck in the pad. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby." Fluttershy continued as she tried to calm the creature even more, now seeing why it was on edge about a minute ago.

"Little?!" Rainbow exclaimed, extremely confused by what had just taken place.

"Now this might hurt for just a second." Fluttershy said with a small smile as she eased her head toward the thorn and plucked it with her teeth. This caused the manticore to unleash another ear-splitting roar, which frightened the other ponies.

"FLUTTERSHY!" They all yelled, fearing that the manticore would begin to attack again. However, the creature instead cradled the pegasus in its paws and licked her mane several times, similar to that of a lion. The once fierce manticore had now been rendered as almost completely harmless, all by just a simple act of benevolence.

"Aw, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." Fluttershy cooed as she giggled while the manticore continued to lick her mane, throwing it way out of its original form, however, she didn't pay attention to this.

Seeing that the manticore would no longer give them any more trouble, the five other ponies turned their befuddled gapes into warm smiles as they walked past the creature. Twilight decided to hang back for a moment and wait for Fluttershy, whose mane was still swept up into a thick cowlick after her show of affection. When the manticore let go of her, it went about on its way back into the forest.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." Fluttershy explained as she walked past. Twilight pondered her statement for a moment, and smiled to herself as she followed along with the rest of the group.

The discarded thorn began to spin in place until it transformed into Nightmare's vapor cloud. She then proceeded to follow the six ponies into the darkest portion of the forest, while at the same time, remaining unnoticed by them.

* * *

The group continued to advance through a dark bog, considering the squishing steps that were being made with every step.

"My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Rarity said as she shuddered. Coincidentally, the trees became thickened to the point where little to no light could get through them. "Well, I didn't mean that literally." Rarity said as she started to second-guess herself on her first remark.

"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn't even know it!" Twilight added as they continued to advance through the dark.

Nightmare Moon had managed to catch up to the group and sneak past them, more than likely setting up another obstacle for the six ponies. She seeped into a series of old, twisted trees, which caused them to give off a small red glow.

"Oh, wait. I think I stepped in somethin'." Applejack said as one of her hooves became covered in mud.

Fluttershy then screamed at the sight of one of the glowing red trees, however, Applejack paid no mind to this and continued on.

"It's just mud." Applejack explained, wondering why Fluttershy would have a seemingly random outburst at this time. However, she found the reason why when she stopped in front of one of the glowing trees, getting a close-up look at the gruesome face on the tree trunk. It appeared to have a gaping, toothy maw that was formed from an opening in the bark, and a pair of glaring knothole eyes. Applejack bolted with a yell to rejoin the other ponies (with the exception of Pinkie Pie), who also stared at the leering, snarling images that have suddenly appeared on all of the trees around them, with wide, terrified eyes. They all let out a scream for their lives, however, they stopped cold when they heard a familiar laugh that was almost at an equal volume. Pinkie Pie had been laughing in amidst of the scary-looking environment that surrounded them. A confused "Huh?" was their only response as the pink mare continued to giggle at one of the horrid faces on the trees, and occasionally make a few goofy faces of her own.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?! _Run_!" Twilight exclaimed, wondering what was making Pinkie laugh at a time like this.

"Oh, girls, don't you see?" Pinkie said as she kept laughing, while preparing to sing.

"_When I was a little filly and the sun was going down..._" Pinkie began.

"Tell me she's not." Twilight remarked, knowing that Pinkie Pie was about to start singing with no logically good reason to be.

"_The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown..._" Pinkie continued.

"She is." Rarity said, replying to Twilight's comment.

"_I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw,_

_But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all..._" Pinkie sang while hopping around the five other ponies.

"Then what is?" Rainbow asked.

"_She said, "Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears"..." _Pinkie sang as she hopped over a tree. "_You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear...Ha. Ha. Ha!_" Pinkie sang as at the very moment she laughed, the disturbing face on the tree vanished, returning it to its normal twisted state. The other ponies took note of this, and also began to laugh at the menacing apparitions on the trees, causing them to disappear.

"_So...giggle at the ghostly,_

_Guffaw at the grossly,_

_Crack up at the creepy,_

_Whoop it up with the weepy,_

_Chortle at the kooky,_

_Snortle at the spooky,_

_And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone_

_And if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming_

_And the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna...*giggling*_

_LAUGH!_" Pinkie finished as the remaining faces on the trees return to their old, dormant forms. She then flopped on her back next to Twilight, who was also on her back, and had a good long laugh along with the rest of the ponies.

* * *

When the group exited the bog, the moonlight was restored in the area, allowing for normal visibility to traverse through the forest. The ponies continue to giggle after their adventure through the dark wetland, however they were almost instantly silenced when they came up on a raging river, with apparently no clear way to get across.

"How are we gonna cross _this_?" Pinkie asked. Suddenly, the group heard someone wailing and moaning in the near distance. They decided to hide themselves in a clump of bushes to get an up close look at the source of the noise. A long, purple, scaly tail was thrashing about in the water, causing a disturbance in the natural flow of the water. The ponies looked up the stream, passing the several coils of a snakelike body, to see the head of an immense serpent. It had long, dark blond hair, surprisingly skinny arms, and a delicate mustache. However, the right half of the mustache had been raggedly cut or ripped off, resulting in the serpent's somewhat grotesque appearance. It also looked as if it had been crying for some time now.

"What a world! What a world!" The serpent exclaimed in a effeminate male voice, while slamming his fists into the river.

"Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!" The serpent replied as he leaned in to show them the damage. "And now, I look simply _horrid_!" He said as he flopped on his back into the water, soaking all of the ponies during his hissy fit.

"Oh, gimme a break." Rainbow remarked, a little annoyed.

"_That's _what all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked, also a little peeved.

"Why, of course it is! How _can _you be so insensitive?" Rarity asked as she shouldered her way past Applejack and Rainbow Dash to comfort the serpent. "Oh, just look at him." She said in a baby voice, while her coat, as well as the others', somehow dried out in this occurrence. "Such lovely luminescent scales." Rarity said as she began to give compliments.

"I know!" The serpent replied, still sniffling a bit.

"And your expertly coiffed mane."

"Oh, I know, I know!"

"Your _fabulous_ manicure."

"It's so true!"

"All ruined without you beautiful mustache."

"It's true, I'm hideous!" The serpent exaggerated as he started to sob again.

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" Rarity exclaimed resolutely as she clamped her teeth on one of the serpent's scales and yanked it off.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" The serpent replied as a tear fell from his eye.

"Rarity, what are you-" Twilight tried to ask before the said white unicorn took the razor-sharp point of the scale and sliced off a significantly large portion of her tail. Only a ragged nub of it remained as she tossed the scale aside, and then used her magic to attach the cut part of her tail to the ruined half of the serpent's mustache.

"My mustache! How wonderful!" He exclaimed with a jubilant laugh as he straightened up.

"You look smashing." Rarity complimented.

"Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail!" Twilight said while observing the damage, expecting Rarity to be saddened by having to sacrifice a part of her.

"Oh...it's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season." Rarity replied as she faced the other ponies. "Besides, it'll grow back." She finished as Twilight gave a gentle smile, having grasped the fact that Rarity had given up something that meant a lot to her to not only keep their mission going, but to help the serpent as well.

"So would the mustache." Rainbow remarked softly to Twilight.

"We can cross now! Let's go!" Twilight exclaimed as she waded into the now calm river. Suddenly, a purple coil from the serpent's body emerged from the water beneath her, causing her to yell when she was nearly thrown off balance.

"Allow me!" The serpent exclaimed as he used his body as stepping stones for the group of ponies to cross the river. When all of them were on the another side of the river, they thanked the serpent as he dove back into the river, and continued on their journey.

* * *

The group then approached a mist-choked abyss, with a tumbled ruin of the Royal Pony Sisters castle standing in a small clearing up ahead on the far side.

"The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We made it!" Twilight said as she began to gallop ahead.

"Twilight! Wait for us!" Applejack called out as she and the others gave chase to the lavender unicorn.

"We're almost there!" Twilight exclaimed, not paying attention to the path in front of her. She yelped as she lost her balance and slid halfway over the edge of the abyss, scrambling to pull herself up. However, Rainbow Dash managed to grab her by the end of her tail and pull her to safety before she lost her footing. (or "hoofing")

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Rainbow asked as she and the others eyed the broad gap between the two pieces of land. They noticed two post with a pair of ropes tied on each one, as if a bridge was meant to be there.

"Now what?" Pinkie asked after letting out a small gasp.

"Duh!" Rainbow replied as she twitched her wings and flew down into the mist to retrieve the snapped bridge ropes.

"Oh, yeah." Pinkie said when she realized that Rainbow had wings, and could easily fly to where the other end of the bridge was.

After grabbing the bridge ropes in her teeth, Rainbow Dash flew to the other end of the abyss and tied one of them to a post. However, before she could tie down the other rope, she heard an echoing female voice, causing her to stop short.

"Rainbow..." She called, making the said pegasus drop the rope on the ground with a gasp. Nightmare's vapor cloud drifted up from below her and flew into the mist, but Rainbow Dash didn't take note of this.

"Who's there?" Rainbow replied, readying herself for something or someone to come out and attack.

"Rainbow..." The voice repeated, as the mist began to thicken around her, blocking her view from the ponies waiting on the other side.

"I ain't scared of you! Show yourself!" Rainbow exclaimed while punching at the air in a fighting stance.

"We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria." The voice started as she explained her presence.

"Who?" Rainbow asked.

"Why, you, of course." The voice responded.

"Really?" Rainbow asked, before regaining her "cool" composure. "I mean...oh, yeah! Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would you? 'Cause I've been trying to get into that group for, like, _ever_!" Rainbow said in a somewhat smug voice.

"No, Rainbow Dash. We want you to join _us._" The voice said as the silhouettes of three pegasi came into her view, appearing to be galloping towards her with uncanny speed. When the silhouettes emerged from the mist and skidded to a stop, they revealed themselves to be two purple-maned stallions and a blue-maned mare. They each wore a full-body jumpsuit and yellow-goggles, similar to what the Wonderbolts apparel would be. However, the bodies of the jumpsuits were purple instead of their normal blue, and the headgear and footwear (or "hoofwear", if you wish) were black. They also had yellow lightning bolts to mark the boundaries, and an emblem of a winged pony skull where the cutie mark would be. The mare had a light gray coat and wings, while the two stallions each had a coat that was a darker shade of gray. "The Shadowbolts!" The mare exclaimed, leaving Rainbow Dash a little puzzled. "We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria. But first...we need a captain." The mare explained as Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide and a big smile formed on her face. The mare began to slowly fly in circles around her.

"The most magnificent..." The mare said as she gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a series of compliments.

"Yep." Rainbow replied.

"...swiftest..."

"Yes."

"...bravest flyer in all the land."

"Yes. It's all true." Rainbow said, laughing.

"We need...you." The mare finished as she leaned in and whispered this into Rainbow's ear.

"Woo-hoo! Sign me up!" Rainbow exclaimed, leaping up in excitement. "Just let let me tie this bridge real quick, and then we have a deal." She said as she went to get the loose rope. However, the Shadowbolt mare zipped across into her path to stop her.

"NO! It's them or us!" The mare said in a far more menacing tone, causing Rainbow Dash to recoil slightly. She didn't expect to have to choose between her life-long dreams or being loyal to her friends. However, before she could say what was on her mind, she heard a voice call out to her from the other side of the abyss.

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, hoping that the pegasus would hear her. "What's taking so long?" Twilight asked rhetorically in a softer tone as she squinted her eyes to see Rainbow Dash talking to the Shadowbolts through the mist. Seeing that this was probably one of Nightmare Moon's tricks, Twilight tried to warn her about the alicorn's presence, "RAINBOW!" She yelled again, hoping that the said pegasus would hear her. Before Rainbow Dash could interpret what was saying, the mare's eyes began to blaze yellow behind her goggles, causing the fog around them to thicken even more, drowning out Twilight's voice. "Don't listen to them!" Twilight exclaimed, but as a result of the fog, her voice came out muffled to Rainbow Dash.

"Well?" The mare asked as she awaited Rainbow's final answer. After a long, suspenseful silence, the rainbow-maned pegasus mare finally spoke.

"You." Rainbow responded, earning a broad smile from the Shadowbolt mare. However, she wasn't fully done with her response as she continued to speak. "Thank you...for the offer, I mean." She said, now leaving Shadowbolts' mouths agape as she whipped back to the bridge to tie up the other rope to the second post. "But I'm afraid I have to say no." Rainbow finished as she flew away to the other side of the chasm to reunite with her friends. The Shadowbolts gave her one last malevolent glare before turning into three puffs of a familiar bluish-purple vapor cloud; Nightmare Moon had been playing as the "Shadowbolts" to drive Rainbow Dash away from her friends, but due to her loyalty, the plan had failed. The three clouds then joined together to form one, and slithered away from the scene.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the abyss, the five ponies cheered as Rainbow Dash stood triumphantly in front of the reconstructed bridge. The fog also began to dissipate as the group crossed over the gap between the cliffs, due to Nightmare's absence.

"See? I'd never leave my friends hanging." Rainbow said to Twilight as they reached the other side. Twilight, who had originally opposed the idea of befriending other ponies, was now beginning to understand what it meant to have something (or in this case, someone, or "somepony") to care about other than books and studying.

* * *

The group soon approached the front entrance to the ruined castle, where they noticed a large grotesquely-shaped hole that poked through a wall on a wing behind the entryway. There were also charred marks on the outside of the opening, signifying that whatever had crashed into the wall was burning.

"That must be where the green light landed. Its impact against the wall is probably what caused the explosion that we heard earlier." Twilight said as she looked up at the hole before following the other ponies into the main hall of the castle.

The six mares proceeded to walk towards an apparatus, which consisted of six round stones tablets that were mounted at the ends of radial shafts. In the center of the artifact was a large orb that was overgrown with moss and vines, along with the five stones and shafts that surrounded it. The tablets also had a gem-shaped figure engraved into its surface, bearing a strong resemblance to the framework of the Elements of Harmony in Twilight's book.

"Whoa...come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" Applejack asked as she and the other ponies and looked up at the structure from the base, staring in awe.

"The Elements of Harmony. We've found them!" Twilight responded as she joined the group in retrieving the stone tablets. Using their wings to their advantage, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew up to the outstretched arms of the apparatus and took one orb each down to the floor. "Careful...careful..." Twilight said, ensuring that the two pegasi were cautious with lowering the five elements.

"One, two, three, four...there's only five." Pinkie said as Fluttershy brought down the last tablet.

"Where's the sixth?" Rainbow asked.

"The book said, "When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed." Twilight explained as she sat down on her stomach.

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked, notably confused with the whole ordeal.

"I'm not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I'm not sure what will happen." Twilight replied as she closed her eyes, while her magic aura began to take shape around her horn.

"Come on now, y'all. She needs to concentrate." Applejack said as she led everyone else out of the room.

Suddenly, a familiar bluish-purple vapor cloud slithered past the group of ponies, while at the same time, remaining completely unnoticed. It made its way behind and past a straining Twilight, who was still focused on trying to unravel the elements. The cloud then spun around the stone tablets in a swift circular motion, causing a small, but growing whirlwind to form around them. The increasingly loud windstorm broke Twilight's concentration as she opened her eyes, and let out a cry upon sight of the cyclone.

Meanwhile, the other ponies had left the castle and were retreating back to the bridge, when they heard a yell emerge from the room that they were previously in.

"TWILIGHT!" They all yelled as they started into a gallop back to the castle to check on the mare in question.

The whirlwind inside the room had grown to its maximum size and power, nearly reaching the remains of the ceiling. It had also sucked up all of the round stones and lifted them up into the air, prompting Twilight to try and catch them if they happened to fall.

"The Elements!" She exclaimed as she dove into the tornado, in which shrunk away in a flash, as if it had teleported her and the elements. Seconds later, the other ponies returned to the scene of the crime, and each shared a confused, fearful reaction as they began to search for the missing unicorn.

"Twilight! Where are you?" Applejack called out.

"Look!" Rarity exclaimed as she gazed intently out of a window at a tower in another wing of the castle. A white light beamed out from all of its windows, as well as the gaping hole in the wall.

"Come on!" Applejack said as she and the other ponies started into a sprinting gallop towards the tower to rescue their new "friend".

* * *

In the meantime, the white light soon exploded into a blast of violet smoke that filled the chamber, causing Twilight to cough softly as she lied on her stomach in a huddled position. When it began to fade away, she looked up and uttered a small gasp as she saw Nightmare Moon standing in her armored form on a crumbling dais, who was laughing as she held the five element tablets in the grip of her flowing mane and tail. Her hooves were also protected by blue shoes that covered the majority of her lower legs. Lightning cracked out from all around her, startling Twilight as she let out another gasp, and overall, creating an intimidating stance for the evil alicorn.

There was also a small, burnt crater that looked to be freshly implemented into the floor in the shadows off to Twilight's left side, however, neither Twilight nor Nightmare Moon took any note of this. Inside the blackened formation was a stallion motionlessly lying on his back, in a puddle of his own blood. He had several cuts and scrapes scattered across his body, as well as a deep laceration on his chest. The stallion also had a light gold coat, a matching lime-green mane and tail, and a large emerald encrusted into his body, just below the lesion. This emerald, due to its impact with the ground, now had a very small, almost microscopic chip in its surface, and also glowed occasionally. All in all, this stallion was badly injured.

All of Nightmare's shenanigans and obstacles had gotten the best of Twilight, as she instantly grew a furious expression on her face and dragged her right forehoof across the floor in front of her, preparing to make a charge at the wicked mare.

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Nightmare remarked as she began to taunt the lavender unicorn.

Her seemingly rhetorical question was immediately answered when Twilight barreled straight towards the dais, with her horn gradually firing up as she drew herself closer to making contact. Nightmare Moon had also started in her own counter charge towards Twilight as she set down the elements, making for what seemed was going to be a cliché first clash of the two sides. However, before the two mares could collide with each other, Twilight disappeared with a small flash of light, causing Nightmare to skid to a stop and take a puzzled look around the chamber for the unicorn in question. About a second later, Twilight reappeared on the dais and emitted a woozy moan, indicating that the teleportation spell she had used took a lot of energy out of her. She quickly shook off this tired feeling and lowered her head towards the stone tablets, intending on initiating a spark from them to reveal the sixth element.

"Just one spark. Come on, come on..." Twilight spoke to herself as her horn lit up once again.

This time, the five stones began to illuminate, earning a surprised look from Nightmare Moon. This expression quickly turned to anger as she transformed into her vapor cloud form and spun around in a tornado-like motion, while at the same time, making a mad dash for the five tablets on the dais. The generated force of the magic aura surrounding the elements pushed back hard on Twilight, as it knocked her to the floor on her back when she got close.

"No! No!" Nightmare exclaimed as she turned back into her alicorn form, seeing that there was ostensibly nothing that she could do with the elements. Twilight put on a smirk as she said this, fully convinced that her plan would succeed, however, things suddenly took a turn for the worse for the unicorn. The stone tablets abruptly stopped glowing around Nightmare Moon, making Twilight gasp in pure shock of this failure.

"But...where's the sixth element?" She asked rhetorically as Nightmare began to laugh with full throttle and proceeded to violently stomp her fore-hooves onto the floor, causing the five elements to shatter into smithereens.

"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat _me_? Now you will never see your Princess – or your sun! The night will last forever!" Nightmare exclaimed, once again boasting about her supposed victory.

Her mane and tail then became a swirling vortex above her head as she laughed maniacally, while Twilight could only muster a look of utter defeat in her eyes. However, this hopeless expression instantly changed to bewilderment when she heard a familiar set of muffled voices coming from a stairway behind her. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash emerged from the shadows, surprising Twilight to the point where her eyes widened to their maximum capacity, and even a small sparkle could be seen in her pupils. An idea had developed in her head, restoring whatever confidence that she had lost before. She put a smile back on her face and started to speak over her left shoulder to Nightmare Moon.

"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong..." Twilight said, earning a look of slight fear from Nightmare. This fear quickly shifted to anger as she prepared to retaliate for whatever attack Twilight would dish out as she continued to speak. "...because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony...are _right here_!" Twilight finished as the other five ponies materialized in formation behind her as she turned to face Nightmare Moon. The shards of the broken stone tablets also started to glow and float free of the ground, all while nearing the six young mares.

In the meantime, the emerald in the stallion's chest began to glow in a slow, flashing pattern. It repeated this process for 7 flashes before releasing a luminous, green light that engulfed the gem itself, as well as the stallion's entire body. This green light gradually turned into a bright snowy white, as if it were gaining power when it underwent this phase. A chartreuse aura also surrounded the body as the assemblage of light expanded to its full capability. After an intense, suspenseful moment of violent growth, the light and the aura shrunk slightly, then proceeded to explode in a flash of a blinding white light. The explosion caused the stallion's body to disappear, leaving behind the crater that he made, along with the puddle of his bloodshed. Even with all of the noise that the light's detonation produced, the group of ponies remained oblivious to this occurrence, due to the thunder and lightning that surrounded Nightmare Moon drowning out the dissonance.

"What?" Nightmare said, now showing a sign of fear again.

"Applejack..." Twilight began, intending to explain which pony had a personality trait that resembled each element. "...who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of honesty!" She exclaimed as several shards of the said elements levitated over to the light gamboge earth pony, who smiled as Twilight acknowledged her previous actions at the cliff edge. "Fluttershy...who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness! Pinkie Pie...who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of loyalty!" Twilight said, remembering how these ponies helped her across the journey to the castle. The shards of the broken elements also floated over to the said mares as their names and personality traits were addressed, with each pony smiling at Twilight's statements and confidently facing Nightmare Moon. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilight finished.

"You still don't have the sixth element! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare protested, trying to get Twilight and her five-pony army to stand down to her.

"But it did. A different kind of spark." Twilight answered back as she faced the other ponies. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you...to see you...how much I cared about you." Twilight explained as the other ponies smiled at this confession. "The spark ignited inside _me_..." She continued, starting to form tears of joy in her eyes. "...when I realized that you all..." She said as a tear fell from her left eye while turning back to face Nightmare Moon. "..._are my friends_!" Twilight finished.

Suddenly, shafts of an intense white light pierced into the ponies' view, coming from a sixth stone tablet that had appeared above them. It also had a figure that was engraved into its surface to resemble an element, specifically in the shape of a six-pointed star. This tablet made its descent until it stopped above Twilight, signifying that she spiritually held the sixth element. Nightmare Moon was forced to shield her eyes as the light beamed in her face.

"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the..." Twilight said as she struggled for a moment to find the next word, while Nightmare Moon could only return a scared expression. "...the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element. The element of magic!" Twilight exclaimed as the light from the floating element flared out to encompass the other five elements, causing the stone shards circulating the other ponies to transform into necklaces, with each one symbolizing their cutie marks; Fluttershy's being a pink butterfly, Pinkie Pie's being a blue balloon, Rarity's being a purple lozenge, Applejack's being an orange apple with a green leaf, and Rainbow Dash's being a red lightning bolt.

As for Twilight, the unbroken element transformed into a gold tiara that planted itself onto her head. It was studded with small blue jewels and a large, pink, six-pointed star, resembling her cutie mark. The six mares then began to levitate into the air in a circular formation, as a double helix with the colors of the rainbow emerged from the center of their circle while they became illuminated in a bright light. These two colored shafts shot up towards the ceiling before joining into a single, broad, ribbon-like line and swoop downward to Nightmare Moon.

"NOOOOO! NOOOOO!" Nightmare screamed, seeing that her time for her defeat had come as the rainbow-colored blast swirled around her in a cyclone motion. Twilight and her friends continued to float serenely in the gleaming light, while their cutie-marked jewel glowed as the elements gained more power. All six ponies had chosen to keep their eyes closed, until Twilight decided to open them in order to finish off the attack. Her eyes also glowed white as the rainbow cyclone that enveloped Nightmare Moon produced one last flare that filled the entire room, before slowly fading away. The group of mares fell to the floor after this occurrence, exhausted from the battle as well as the journey to even get to the ruined castle. But it was all worth it; they had defeated Nightmare Moon...they had prevented an everlasting night...they had saved Equestria...or at least, so they thought...

* * *

"My head!" Rainbow groaned as she and the other ponies found themselves to be sprawled out onto the floor, while at the same time, beginning to come to their senses.

"Everypony okay?" Applejack asked as she got up on her four hooves.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Rarity exclaimed as she had already stood up, turning to face her now fully grown tail.

"Why, Rarity, it's so lovely." Fluttershy commented, also having already stood up.

"I know! I'll never part with it again!" Rarity continued while waving her once-again curly tail.

"No, your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark." Fluttershy explained, implying that she had been complimenting her new jewelry.

"Huh?...ooh..." Rarity said, seeing what Fluttershy was getting at, while noticing that the yellow pegasus mare also had a necklace that shared a comparable design with her respective cutie mark. "So does yours!" She exclaimed as Fluttershy looked at it and gasped jubilantly, as the other ponies also took notice of their new adornments when they stood up.

"Look at mine, look at mine!" Pinkie cheered happily as she hopped her way over to Applejack.

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow said, also appreciating her new decoration.

"Gee, Twilight. I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey. But I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship." Applejack said to Twilight, who responded with a smile.

"Did you really think that you had me beaten?" A voice asked in an almost rhetorical manner, causing the group of ponies to let out a horrified gasp. An all-too-familiar bluish-purple vapor cloud took the shape of a whirling maelstrom on the dais. After a moment of fearful anticipation, the cloud split itself into two and revealed the blue-armored, bluish-black alicorn once again; Nightmare Moon had not fallen under submission after all. "Think again!" She exclaimed as thunder and lightning boomed around her when she boasted, while the six mares could only muster a series of fearful and confused expressions.

"Th-that's impossible! Why didn't the Elements of Harmony work?" Twilight said in complete and utter disbelief.

"Do you not realize that I cannot be stopped?" Nightmare continued as she hoisted the group of ponies into the air with her magic, and proceeded to clench them with a straining grip. "Your Elements of Harmony have once again proved to be useless. Therefore, the night shall continue to last!" Nightmare finished as she laughed wickedly while holding the six mares captive in mid-flight. The ponies desperately tried to escape her grasp, but it was no use, as she tightened her grip on them, specifically in the area where they wore their jewelry. All remaining hope in Nightmare Moon's defeat had appeared to be lost.

Suddenly, a small yellowish-green light began to materialize and twinkle in the air above them, drawing the ponies' attention away from Nightmare Moon. The evil alicorn didn't seem to take notice of this, due to the light being behind her. It expanded in size and power as it went from a tiny speckle to that of a full grown stallion's body. It also changed its color from a light chartreuse to a snowy white, similar to its transformation when the stallion disappeared. After a moment of growing to its full capacity, the white light exploded in a blinding flash, revealing the stallion inside. It was the same light gold stallion with a matching lime-green mane and tail, a slightly chipped emerald encrusted into his chest, scattered cuts and scrapes on his body, and a deep laceration just above his emerald. However, due to his apparent adrenaline, he didn't seem to show any signs of feeling the pain of his injuries, as he looked as if he was going to start his attack on Nightmare Moon. A glowing neon green light overwhelmed his shamrock green pupils as he fell from his position in the sky towards her. He then proceeded to shoot three pairs of green pulse lasers out of his eye sockets, all in which were aimed at Nightmare Moon. The first pair of lasers hit Nightmare's horn, as it had been holding the six friends in the air using telekinesis. The optical force caused her magic to become disabled, releasing the ponies from her strong clutch. The second blast hit Nightmare in the back of her head, throwing her balance off slightly as she tried to turn around to defend herself. But she was too late, as the third and final set of lasers hit her square on the back, knocking her completely off of her hooves and onto her stomach. The stallion, still in midair, then performed a combination of a front flip and a 180 degree turn before landing on all fours to face and confront Nightmare Moon.

"So you bring the world down to its knees, taking everything that you please...and yet you still ask for more?" The stallion asked, as Nightmare got back up on her hooves. His eye color also changed back to its normal state.

"Who do you think you are to challenge me?!" Nightmare yelled in a roaring voice, trying to discourage him from getting involved.

"I do not wish for a challenge, Nightmare Moon; only for you to rethink your actions." The stallion responded, keeping a serious, yet calm attitude despite jumping into a battle that he had no business in joining.

"Rethink my actions? Please..." Nightmare replied as she fired a dark blue beam of her magic at him.

A split second before her attack could hit the stallion, he dodged the beam by performing an aerial flip to the left. Twilight and her friends also avoided the attack by galloping out of its path. The missed shot angered Nightmare Moon even more as she fired off another beam. The stallion once again evaded the blast with an aerial flip, this time to the right. She attacked him with another beam of magic. He dodged this projectile by jumping over it, while keeping his body in a horizontal alignment in mid-flight. He then placed his hooves in front of him to break his fall, landing on his stomach in a push-up position. Using his vulnerable stance as an opportunity, Nightmare fired off a beam that aimed right at his face, intending on landing a hit on the stallion while he was still on the ground. However, he quickly jumped up, pushing off of the floor with his fore-hooves, and did a back flip as the beam engraved itself into the stone ground.

"Stand still!" Nightmare exclaimed in anger, shooting five blue beams of magic out of her now steaming horn.

The stallion averted this rapid-fire attack by pulling off three back handsprings (or "hoofsprings") to dodge three of the beams, then executed a double back-flip to miss the rest. Nightmare Moon grew furious with his continuous evasion of her attacks, as she began to fire a series of beams at him in a machine gun fashion. Seeing that she wouldn't relent on her onslaught any time soon, the stallion proceeded to sprint his way towards Nightmare Moon, while sidestepping to and left and right of the blasts as he continued his charge. When he came to within proximity of her, he leaped into the air to perform a 1,080 degree spin to the left. In the middle of his second rotation, he extended his left rear leg slightly to kick Nightmare in the face, causing her magic to become disabled once again. However, this counter attack was not done, as the stallion then fully extended his right rear leg out while in midair to kick her again with full force in the chin, sending her flying back into a pillar behind her, and nearly breaking her lower jaw. She landed back on her stomach with a heavy thud, and slowly tried to recover from the impact. The stallion landed from his acrobatics gracefully on all four hooves, and walked towards Nightmare Moon, also in a slow and somewhat menacing manner. Before he say anything to her, Nightmare immediately grabbed him by the neck with her magic, and levitated him close to her face.

"You only delay the inevitable, you little foal. The only thing that would have been able to stop me were the Elements of Harmony. And now that their efforts have proved to be too weak to defeat me, your efforts too are pointless. I shall become the new ruler of Equestria!" Nightmare said while beginning to laugh evilly, as she stiffened her grasp on the seemingly helpless stallion, with lightning bolts booming around her. The stallion remained silent for a moment as his face contorted in pain from the force of her magic compounding onto the pain of his injuries.

"_Should I really be meddling in this world's affair? I don't want to get too involved into a conflict that wasn't even mine to begin with...in fact, what I really need to be doing is finding a way out of this place..._" He thought as he looked out of the corner of his right eye to see the six ponies, who returned looks of fear, worry, and confusion while he stayed suspended in Nightmare's field of magic. "_...but this pony wants to become the ruler of this "Equestria" for apparently the wrong reasons. She's not going to gain the full satisfaction of her subjects by forcing them into honoring her authority...but what can I do to suppress her opposition? I suppose I could kill her if need be; from the looks of her powers, I could very easily surpass any counterattack that she would throw at me. Then again, I don't really want to make too big of a name for myself by killing off a potential member of this world's royal family..._" He continued, trying to think of a more nonviolent way to put an end to Nightmare's wrath. "_...unless I use my element...I know that it doesn't qualify as one of the "Elements of Harmony", but it's my best option to try to stop her._" He thought as he finally came up with a possible solution. "_Well, here goes nothing..."_

"You will be fooled...nothing more..." The stallion said in a low and somewhat distorted voice, as he became engulfed in a fiery neon green aura while his emerald began to glow immensely. His eyes also glowed a bright green color once again, further amplifying his power.

After a seemingly long and intense moment of generating energy inside Nightmare's field of magic, the stallion burst free of her grip, using "magic" of his very own, and gracefully landed back on the floor. His left eye twinkled as he focused his aim of offensive attack on her.

"What?! Th-that's impossible! How can a little stallion like you have this much power?" Nightmare protested.

The stallion responded to this by firing off a round of lasers at Nightmare's chest, creating several cracks in her armor as she fell back on the floor. She tried to recover and stand back up on her hooves, with her horn flaring up as however, the stallion prevented this by blasting her in the face with another set of lasers, breaking off her facial armor in the process.

"Do you not know what it's like to be outshined? Does my royalty not count because my rule is not appreciated?" Nightmare asked in a low voice.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Being an unsung hero can be frustrating at times; it can make you feel completely useless. However, your resentment doesn't justify your means to force your subjects into honoring your authority." The stallion began, while Nightmare's angry expression remained unchanged, as if she was looking to retaliate. "As you have probably figured out by now, I am far from the average stallion. I can read and sense the thoughts and feelings of others. I can predict one's actions before they think about going upon them. I am a sentinel that watches over to ensure that peace and justice are kept in line..." He explained, as his body became illuminated in a bright light that emerged from his insides. He glowed in the resepective colors of his mane, coat, and tail as he readied his final attack. "I am...the Element of EMOTION!" He finished with a yell as he began to ascend into the air.

The stallion became enveloped in a large green beacon that materialized around him. It also poked through the ruined roof of the castle as he generated more and more power. Nightmare Moon slowly stood up from her third fall, with a scared expression on her face as she braced herself for the green fury of doom, perhaps with more fear than when Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony. He held out his fore-hooves and began to create a green, translucent ball of plasmatic energy, as if he were about to perform a kamehameha from Dragon Ball Z. The sphere grew in size and depth while he concentrated on getting all of the power that he could get out of his emerald, remaining surprisingly silent throughout this process. He then raised his fore-hooves above his head, taking the sphere of energy with them as it continued to expand. When it grew to the size of a human hamster ball, the stallion lowered his fore-hooves back in front of him, along with the ball of green plasma. He took a deep breath and pushed forward, letting go of the ball and sending it directly towards Nightmare Moon. She tried to counter this attack by lighting up her horn and firing off another blue beam towards the stallion's plasma ball. The projectiles collided in the air, and looked as if they were going to explode at any given moment. However, due to its greater mass and size, the plasma ball easily overcame the beam and scored a direct hit on Nightmare. The energy inside of the sphere engulfed the alicorn and began to transform her into a bright neon green light in the shape of her mare stature. The plasma shrunk inside of the light for a short moment, then proceeded to send out a large electromagnetic pulse that sent the six mares flying back for a few feet, and blasted the stallion out of the castle through an opening in the ruined ceiling. When the wind gust from the pulse died down, the light exploded in a flash, revealing the unarmored mare behind the character of Nightmare as she fell into a short state of unconscious; she had a bluish-purple coat, a mane and tail with a lighter shade of blue, a light blue eye shadow behind her eyelids, and a small navy blue tiara along with a crescent-moon necklace that had a matching color. She also had the same crescent-shaped moon cutie mark as her other alias, along with her blue shoes. What remained of her broken, blue armor smoked around her as she lied down on the side of the dais.

* * *

As the group of ponies slowly got back up on their hooves, the sun began to rise over the horizon of the Everfree Forest and the mountains. Its light floated through the now shattered windows in the chamber. Separating itself from it was a smaller blaze of light that made its way through the glass, and settled to the floor to disappear with one last flare. Replacing the light's presence was a tall, white alicorn mare whose long, sparkly mane and tail were striped in pastel shades of pink, green, cobalt, and sky blue; it also appeared to waving in the air, as if guided by a genlte breeze. She also had a gold tiara set with a large, purple, diamond-shaped gem , a gold pair of shoes, and a necklace set with a matching gem. Her cutie mark was an image that represented the sunlight. All of the ponies knelt down silently before her, except for Twilight, who stayed upright and let out a happy gasp.

"Princess Celestia!" She exclaimed as she dashed over to the window that the said alicorn stood in front of. The two ponies nuzzled each other affectionately when they met to face each other.

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it." Celestia replied as she stood at her full height again, which seemed to be roughly twice as tall as that of a typical pony.

"But...you told me it was all an old pony tale. And actually, we-" Twilight tried to explain.

"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." Celestia interrupted, silencing the unicorn. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." She continued, while Twilight shared a look of camaraderie with her new friends. "Now, if only another will as well." She said as she walked over to whom had previously been known as Nightmare Moon. "Princess Luna." She called, while the said alicorn woke up with a small, slightly-frightened gasp. Her eyes revealed the same shade of bluish-green as Nightmare, only without the cat-like shaped pupils. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister." Celestia said as she sat on her stomach in front of Luna, who remained silent with a look of guilt written all over her face.

"Sister?" Twilight and Rainbow asked, a little surprised at this new revelation.

"Will you accept my friendship?" Celestia asked as she stood up on her hooves again and awaited Luna's response. This moment of suspense overwhelmed Luna as she turned her face away while holding back tears in her eyes. The other ponies leaned in expectantly, also feeling the pressure and gravity of the situation. Pinkie Pie leaned forward too far and fell over, in a somewhat comedic fashion. After what seemed to feel like an eternity, Luna made her move, standing upright and nuzzling against Celestia's chest as several tears fell onto her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister." Luna cried in a quavering voice, while managing to put a small smile on her face.

"I've missed you too." Celestia responded as tears began to fall from her eyes as well.

Pinkie Pie had also began to cry, as she sobbed profusely into a handkerchief. A waterfall of tears cascaded from both of her eyes, similar to that of a water fountain. However, this emotional feeling was short-lived when she abruptly perked up to her usual happy-go-lucky demeanor.

"Hey! You know what this calls for?" She exclaimed, completely discarding her previous mood. "A party!" She finished as the other ponies nodded and murmured in general agreement.

"Yes, indeed. The residents of Ponyville should meet you face to face." Celestia responded, trying to encourage Luna to join her.

"Are you sure? Do you really think that they will forgive me for what I have done and accept me for who I am?" Luna asked, still unsure of whether or not she should attend the event.

"Absolutely, dear. Trust me." Celestia replied, giving her a motherly smile as her horn lit up with a light yellow aura. "I will meet you all in Ponyville for the celebration." Celestia said as she turned to the other six mares, preparing to make her departure.

Celestia's magic teleported herself and Luna to a golden chariot that was being pulled by their royal guards, which "drove" them over the Everfree Forest and into the direction of the sun, leading them to the town of Ponyville below them. Meanwhile, back at the castle, the ponies watched as the princesses disappeared over the horizon, while also beginning to make their way out the ruins.

"We better get on back to Ponyville. Everypony will be waitin' for us." Applejack stated, beginning to walk towards the staircase. The other ponies followed suit behind her as they started to make their way out of the castle. However, at the top of the stairs, Twilight stopped for a moment as she began to have afterthoughts of her adventure with her new friends.

"_It is nice to make some new friends...but what will happen now that I have to leave them? And where did that stallion from earlier go?_" She thought before progressing down the stairwell.

* * *

As the group of ponies began to engage in their own conversations (except for Twilight, who was still at war with herself in her thoughts) while exiting the ruined castle, they saw an all-too-familiar bloodied body of a stallion lying motionlessly by the bridge that Rainbow Dash had tied down earlier. With an assortment of gasps, the mares galloped over to him to notice that his chest laceration had grown in size, as well as the significant increase in speed in which blood oozed out of his wounds. This horrifying sight caused Rarity to lose consciousness for a moment while the other ponies stood over the stallion, frantically wondering what they could do to help him.

"Oh my goodness! What do we do?" Fluttershy said, beginning to panic.

"Look at all the blood he lost!" Applejack exclaimed, examining the growing bloodshed around the stallion with a worried look on her face.

"He'll die if we don't do something!" Twilight said as her horn lit up almost instantaneously with that statement.

Her magenta aura began to engulf the stallion's legs and lower torso in a bright light of the same color. This light slowly expanded up to the tips of his hooves and his chest area, healing all of the cuts and scrapes on his body. It looked as if she would be able to nurse the stallion back to his full health. However, when her magic made contact with his emerald, the light surrounding it as well as all of his other healed parts of his body suddenly disappeared, leaving behind his massive chest laceration that continued to spew out blood. It only seemed like a short matter of time before he would blackout permanently.

"Oh no...my magic isn't strong enough!" Twilight said, also beginning to panic.

"What do we do now?" Pinkie asked somewhat dramatically.

At that very moment, the stallion's emerald started to glow softly and gradually, shifting all of the ponies' attention towards it; including Rarity, who had awakened from her fainting a minute or two earlier. As it glowed to its full capacity, all of his cuts, scrapes, and bruises began to heal and eventually vanish. The laceration above it also stopped producing blood, signifying that the stallion had started to revitalize his former condition. The deep gash also began to close itself up, showing no signs of any previous injuries that he sustained before battling with Nightmare Moon. When all of his wounds were fully healed, the emerald's glow faded until its eventual disappearance, having finished its regenerative effect.

"_Thank goodness he's alright...but did he just heal himself without a horn? That's not scientifically possible...unless that emerald is the source of his powers..._" Twilight thought, noticing that he was not a unicorn, pegasus, or any type of pony that could harness that extent of power judging from his appearance, aside from his encrusted gem. She reached out her left forehoof and lightly tapped once on the stallion's still-unconscious body, checking for any more signs of life. As predicted, when she made contact with his coat, she felt a few muscles twitch inside of his body, concluding that he was indeed alert and aware of her presence. He slowly came around to opening his eyes and sitting up to face Twilight, surprisingly looking more calm than an average pony would be if they were to be suddenly awakened.

"_Huh...? Where am I now...And why do I feel so exhausted_?" The stallion thought before being disrupted by Twilight, who tried to put a smile on her face to hide her downright shock.

"Well, hi...my name is Twilight Sparkle. And this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash." Twilight explained as she introduced the said ponies to the stallion. "You really saved us back at the castle-" She tried to continue before being interrupted mid-sentence.

"Your moves were AWESOME! You kicked Nightmare's living hindquarters back there!" Rainbow exclaimed excitedly, even hovering to the point of getting in the stallion's face.

"Yeah! You had that green light around you and everything!" Pinkie said, also hyped up.

"Settle down, everypony. He just woke up." Applejack said, pulling Rainbow Dash back down to the ground.

"As I was going to say, we are very grateful that you came to help us back in the castle. Would you care to tell us your name?" Twilight asked, leaning in slightly along with the other ponies.

"I go by the name Sentinel." The stallion replied, remaining silent for a moment before responding to Twilight's question.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sentinel. We were actually on our way back to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration...would you like to come with us?" Twilight asked intently.

"_I might as well tag along with them...until I can recover and find a way to make contact with the others, I don't really have anything better to do right now...I guess I should clear my head a little..._" Sentinel thought before answering with a "Sure, I guess." while coming to a stand on all four of his hooves.

"Great! Let's go!" Twilight said, still trying to hold together a smile in front of him. Normally, she would question an unsure response like this, but seeing how he was just on the verge on death a few minutes ago, she decided to hold off on the subject.

* * *

The mares continued on their trip back to Ponyville with the new stallion, engaging in their own conversations amongst each other about their recent adventure. Twilight and Sentinel followed a little ways behind the others, walking in silence as they both appeared to be having a internal conflict within themselves. Sentinel eventually took notice of Twilight's troubled expression on her face and decided to ask her about it, wanting to get an idea of who she really was.

"What's the matter, Twilight?" He asked in a serious, yet assuring tone of voice.

"Oh, it's nothing...just daydreaming..." Twilight replied, not really sure if she should let the new stallion in on her little dilemma.

Sentinel gave her a narrow-eyed look of a "Really?" expression, instantly coming to the conclusion that Twilight was hiding something from him. Seeing that the stallion could clearly tell that she was not in her best state of mind, she sighed before explaining her problem to him.

"Well, I'm worried about this relatonship between me and my new friends. You see, the princess sent me here from Canterlot to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. She had arranged for me to stay in a library for a few days until I ensured that everything was running smoothly. However, when Nightmare Moon came about, I needed to find the Elements of Harmony to stop her. But I also needed to make the friends that I have now to unleash the elements' power...and now that Nightmare Moon is gone, and with the celebration is taking place, I'm going to back to Canterlot to continue my studies. I'll have to leave my friends behind, just when learned how nice it is to make some for once." Twilight said, almost starting to cry in the process.

"_Sounds like my childhood in a nutshell..._" Sentinel thought before giving advice to her. "Well, if you care about your new friends that much, then ask this princess of yours if you can stay in Ponyville. It shouldn't be too much of a hassle." He explained, trying to calm Twilight down before she broke down in tears.

"But what if she doesn't let me?" Twilight asked, still assuming for the worst.

"Then do as much as you can to keep in touch with them. Send each other mail or fit in a few visits if you can, I don't know, whatever floats your boat." Sentinel responded, wanting to move away from the subject, but seeing how Twilight still held her despondent expression, he continued to try to comfort her. "Don't worry about that eventuality right now, the main focus of the celebration is to appreciate the upcoming weather and to have fun, right? So try to have as much fun as you can with your new friends for the time being. And when the time comes for your departure, the time will come. Just tell them that you will do as much as you can to stay connected to them, and go about that promise when you go back to Canterlot." He finished, seeing that although Twilight still looked to be a little sad, she appeared to have had calmed down.

"Thanks for your advice, Sentinel. I'll try to have some fun...but I can't really let go of this feeling..." Twilight said as she looked away from him for a moment, then looked back at him again.

"I know how you must feel; everyone hates to lose what they hold dearest to their hearts. But inevitably, that just how life seems to play itself out; you either win the game or lose it..." Sentinel replied.

"_There's something different about this pony...I can't really tell what is, but he definitely has me thinking. He says the honest truth like Applejack, and he's kind of quiet, like Fluttershy...he also keeps a very serious look on his face, almost as if he's angry about something...in fact, I haven't seen him smile once today..._" Twilight thought as she kept walking alongside him.

* * *

The ponies then arrived at the clearing of the Everfree Forest, where the local residents of Ponyville raced through the meadow to the marketplace while confetti and streamers rained down on them from the trees. A team of four pegasus guards pulled a familiar gold chariot, with sunburst designs worked into the wheels' spokes and a crescent moon design on the axle hubs. This chariot had been carrying Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as the two alicorns exited the vehicle to meet the ponies that stood before them. Meanwhile, Spike managed to make his way through the crowd to give Twilight the biggest hug that he could manage for her triumph, despite his small size. Sentinel, however, detached himself from the other ponies, not really wanting to be recognized or participate in any of the celebration's activities. He sat down by a tree that was secluded from the center of the marketplace, and began to recap his encounter with Twilight and her friends, as well as develop a plan for his "new life" in Equestria.

"_So this is what my life will be like as of now...a land full of magical, genetically modified female ponies...wonderful...just wonderful. Do the others even know that I'm stuck here? Where should I stay until they find me...or matter of factly, if they find me? And again, why did I feel so exhausted after that fight with Nightmare Moon...?_" Sentinel thought as he looked down at his emerald, not noticing the chip in its outer surface. He then looked up towards the crowd, mainly at Twilight and her friends, with the lavender unicorn standing at a short distance away from them and looking down in sadness. "_I suppose I could try to get to know them...but is it really worth it? I don't find it likely that they will understand me as I would for them...not to mention what I had to go through in the past as well as the present..._" Sentinel thought again, now looking away from them.

The ponies made their salutations to the princesses as they left their chariot, while Celestia gave them all a warm, gentle smile in return. Luna, however, seemed a bit uneasy standing in front of the crowd, before two pegasus fillies flew up to her and placed a wreath of red and white roses around her neck. She then gave her elder sister an uncertain, yet meaningful little smile, not entirely sure why or how ponies that she had never before met face to face could forgive her previous actions as Nightmare Moon, but accepting this all the same. Celestia then looked over to see a downcast Twilight, who had still been separated from her friends, and walked over to her to find out the problem.

"Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?" Celestia asked as Twilight's ears perked up at the sound of her voice.

"That's just it. Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them." Twilight replied, as her friends (and Spike) also had looks of sadness on their faces. "Also, we didn't really stop Nightmare Moon..." She started, earning a look of interest from the princess.

"Oh?" Celestia said, now intrigued by Twilight's sudden confession.

"You see, we unlocked all of the Elements of Harmony...but when we tried to use them against Nightmare Moon, their magic wasn't strong enough to defeat her. Just when it seemed like all was lost, a stallion named Sentinel came to our rescue and stopped her by using his own element: the Element of Emotion. His power was what saved Equestria from eternal night, not us." Twilight explained. Celestia paused for a moment, taking in the new information before looking over to Spike.

"Spike, take a note, please." She said as the young dragon pulled out a piece of parchment paper and a quill, seemingly out of nowhere. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria." She started, while Sentinel looked up to watch her as her declaration took place, just outside of earshot.

"_She must be one of the supreme authorities...perhaps a ruler. She will probably want to consult me for my actions back at the castle, but I really don't want to draw a lot of attention while I'm here.._" He thought, trying to visualize a possible scenario where the princess would find out about his presence during Nightmare's wrath.

"She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville." Celestia finished, turning Twilight's look of uncomprehension into a grateful smile as her friends surrounded her in a group hug.

"Oh, thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!" Twilight exclaimed happily, taking it all in.

* * *

Loud, joyful cheers were emitted throughout the crowd as more confetti and streamers fell down on top of them. Out of the corner of her eye, Celestia noticed a Sentinel still sitting down by a tree that was secluded from the center of the celebration, and proceeded to make her way over to him.

"And just what might you be doing here all alone?" She asked, startling him a little as he turned his attention up towards her.

"I take it that you must be the princess?" Sentinel replied, regaining his composure.

"Why, yes. I am Princess Celestia, the co-ruler of Equestria alongside Princess Luna. What is your name?" Celestia asked as she made her introduction.

"I am Sentinel, and as you probably have figured out already, I'm not your "average pony"." Sentinel responded, not showing much of a change in his serious demeanor.

"I see...so my fellow student Twilight Sparkle tells me that you used your element to defeat Nightmare Moon." Celestia said in a questioning tone of voice.

"Correct. I used my element of emotion to put an end to her plans. Why do you ask?" Sentinel asked, even though he already had a good idea of what kind of answer he was going to get.

"Well, I would like to thank you, for not only saving the Summer Sun Celebration, but Equestria as well from eternal night." Celestia answered.

"_Figures..._" Sentinel thought, not really being able to help but feel a little irritated at his prediction.

"May I ask where you are from?" Celestia asked, wanting to get to know him better during her stay in Ponyville.

This question earned a subtle, but definite look of surprise and terror from Sentinel, as his usually narrow eyes widened for a change. His mouth also became slightly agape while he paused for a moment to try to come up with a satisfactory response. He didn't really belong or come from anywhere...well, not anywhere in Equestria at least...or anywhere on this planet for that matter. He had a life of his own back on his home planet, Earth, but not a life that he wanted to live by his set standards...and as for explaining his story to a magical pony that he had never met before in his life until now, it was too much of a nightmare to take in all at once.

"_What do I tell her...? She can't possibly try to comprehend the inescapable depths of hell that I have had to live through up until this point in time...she wouldn't understand, or really anyone else on this world as a matter of fact...these ponies just seem to be all in the same content state of the mind; too happy-go-lucky to know or even be aware of the harsh realities that life can throw at you at any time it pleases..." _Sentinel thought as he remained silent for a little longer, while Celestia grew a small worried expression on her face. "_Maybe if I only give her a partial answer...yes...an answer that she won't attempt to question further, but at the same time, keep her wondering...well, here goes nothing._" He thought as he began to speak again. "I...I don't...really know if I "belong" or "come from" anywhere..." Sentinel said, trying to the very best of his ability to "play dumb". "_Dammit..._" He thought, mentally facepalming his forehead after realizing that he used a terrible choice of words.

"Oh...are you lost?" Celestia asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I can't really say...I mean, if that's what you want to call it, then yes, I'll consider myself as "lost"." Sentinel replied, wanting to move on from the subject.

"Well, would you like to stay with Twilight Sparkle at her library, until I can arrange a place for you stay on your own? I'm sure that she wouldn't mind having a roommate like you to keep her company." Celestia said, wanting to at least do something to repay the favor of Sentinel's actions during Nightmare's wrath.

"Are you sure...? I would be willing to look for another place to stay if it means that you won't have to make any arrangements for me." Sentinel asked, not really wishing to make a bigger deal out of his presence in Equestria than what he felt it had to be.

"Absolutely." Celestia responded, now with a warm smile on her face. "Consider this as my way of giving my thanks for your actions." She said, placing her left forehoof on his right shoulder.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't provide an argument if you're insisting on repaying me. Thank you." Sentinel said, returning to his serious demeanor.

"Your very welcome." Celestia replied, removing her forehoof. "I am sorry, but I must end our conversation to return to my royal duties in Canterlot. But I would like to meet you again one day in private for another discussion." Celestia stated as she prepared to make her departure from Ponyville.

"Sure, no problem." Sentinel answered.

"Farewell, Sentinel. I will make sure to let Twilight know that you will be staying with her." Celestia said, starting to turn away from the stallion.

"Goodbye, princess." Sentinel responded, now looking off into the far distance.

* * *

_And with that being said, this will be the end of the second chapter. Please write me a review with your overall feedback. I apologize for the month-long hiatus for this story, as I never really got a solid chance to make time in my busy schedule to finish up this section of my fanfic. In the near future, if this long wait will ever happen again, I will be sure to notify you all of this occurrence. Anyway, if you like this story's turnout so far, stay tuned for the third chapter, "Two Tickets To Paradise" (I know it's a cliché joke that has probably been said many times throughout the brony community, but it was the only title that really fit the chapter in my opinion.), coming soon._

_- Nages257_


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